


Of Vampire Sons and Downworlder Dads

by DarkFairytale



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Addiction, Alec Lightwood is a Downworlder Step-Dad, And he is surprisingly ok about it, BAMF Alec Lightwood, BAMF Magnus Bane, Bloodlust, Canon Relationships, Crack, Hurt Alec, Hurt Magnus Bane, Hurt Raphael, Hurt/Comfort, Injured Alec Lightwood, Jace is a good bro, M/M, Magnus Bane is a Downworlder Dad, Mentions of canon relationships like Izzy/Raphael Clary/Simon Simon/Maia, Protective Magnus Bane, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2018-09-21 04:58:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9532502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkFairytale/pseuds/DarkFairytale
Summary: Magnus cast his gaze around the group before him and rolled his eyes. “Oh please, don’t act so surprised,” he said, with a haughty sniff that may or may not have been genuine, and he brushed invisible debris from the right shoulder of Raphael’s embroidered suit jacket. “Where did you think his impeccable dress sense came from?”A collection of stories about Magnus the Downworlder Dad, his Alexander, and his (their) Downworlder sons.(Spoilers for Season 3).





	1. Magnus is a Downworlder Dad

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter is a different short story:
> 
> Chapter 1: The Shadowhunter gang find out that Magnus is a Downworlder Dad (and also that Alec is totally ok about it).  
> Chapter 2: Alec proves himself to be a good Downworlder Stepdad, and Jace is a superb Downworlder Stepuncle.  
> Chapter 3: Raphael and Simon rescue an injured!Alec.  
> Chapter 4: Magnus is still hurting after the bodyswap with Valentine and Alec tries to cheer him up.  
> Chapter 5: Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane: Power Couple.  
> Chapter 6: In which Raphael and the Shadowhunters get kidnapped and it is up to Magnus, Simon and Luke to save the day.  
> Chapter 7: Magnus asks both Simon and Raphael to apartment-sit (but they don't know that the other one has been asked).
> 
> This all began after that amazing Magnus & Raphael interaction in S2E4. Magnus and Raphael's father & son relationship became my new favourite thing, besides Malec of course (*cough* and Saphael *cough*). I wrote one story, but because I am incapable of writing one-shots, I have a list of little headcanons now, so *shrugs* we shall see how many more I write as the series progresses. Listed as completed as I may/may not add more chapters, and either way, it can stand as completed.
> 
> Some chapters are more cracky than others - there is angst too - so beware! Also SPOILERS for Season 3 lie ahead!
> 
> If Jace's characterisation is a little less angsty than the show version in these stories, that is because I am currently reading the book series for the first time, and Jace's sarcastic wit is marvellous.

Jace ducked with a triumphant grin, avoided the claws that sailed over his head, and leapt up and swung in a wide arc, slicing down the demon before him with his seraph blade. He landed neatly, and was immediately spinning, searching for the others, to make sure that they were all ok. He had had enough of seeing his loved ones hurt. Clary was fighting alongside Izzy, and Jace knew that Izzy was keeping one eye on Clary, even as she took down the demon before her with a precise snap of her whip. Clary seemed to be handling another of the demons just fine on her own, however, ducking and dodging with her seraph blade, and Jace felt a flicker of pride at the sight of it. He looked for Alec next, and found his _parabatai_ with bow in hand, firing arrows in quick succession, taking down demons with graceful ease. Well, Jace had expected no less. There were other Shadowhunters from the Institute too; Lydia and Raj and the others, but a quick scan of them all showed that there were no fatalities so far. There were a few people with bloodied limbs and faces, but nothing that an _iratze_ or their supplies at the Institute could not fix.

But it was not just Shadowhunters in this fight. Blue sparks lit the sky from where Magnus was crackling like a spectacular hurricane, throwing balls of light across the parking lot. Luke and his pack were somewhere in the vicinity. He could hear the snarls of the Werewolves from the next street, and he could hear the hisses of the vampires, because they were here too. Simon wasn’t far from Clary, as always, but Jace only found himself glad of it. Simon’s newfound powers, including the enhanced speed and strength of a vampire, meant that he was more than capable of racing to Clary’s aid if she needed it, at a faster speed than even Jace could. Raphael and some of his clan were there too, dispersed across the lot.

Before his eyes, Jace could see the numbers of the demon hoard diminishing with pleasingly alarming speed. He allowed himself to become distracted in taking down another two, and by the time he was done with that, the fight was over.

There were a number of Shadowhunters and Downworlders bleeding, limping, or clutching wounds, and one Shadowhunter was down on the floor, but he appeared to be alive and was immediately tended to.

There was a sudden flurry of motion to his left, and Jace, still alert, whipped around to see what was happening. It turned out to be Magnus, who was striding towards them across the parking lot. Jace was not surprised when Magnus reached out with a hand to Alec’s chin to quickly scan his face and then his body for injuries, but Jace _was_ surprised when, seemingly satisfied, Magnus swept around the group to Simon, and having given him a quick once over, sailed with some urgency past the others and past Jace, towards where the vampires had been fighting.

“Raphael,” Jace heard Magnus say, with a tone that Jace had only ever heard him use with Alec.

Jace turned to stare, as Magnus reached Raphael, who had ordered his clan members to disperse, and was standing alone several paces away, bleeding from a laceration across his cheek.

“Are you alright?” Magnus was asking him worriedly, before he took Raphael’s face in his hands and tilted it up towards him.

“I’m fine,” Raphael said in his usual gravelly put-upon tone, and Jace raised an eyebrow.

He turned around to see if the others were seeing this too. Whilst Izzy and Clary were watching the strange happenings in front of them with the same surprise that he felt, Simon and Alec looked significantly less affected. Alec, forever able to sense Jace’s gaze on him, looked over at him with a poker-faced expression, and Jace frowned at him, before turning back towards Magnus and Raphael.

“You must stop getting yourself wounded, darling,” Magnus was telling Raphael, “It is doing nothing good for my frayed nerves.”

Jace blinked, and turned back towards the others. “I’m not the only one thinking this is weird right? Alec, this is weird, right?”

He was half-expecting Alec to be glaring at Raphael, because there was clearly something intimate going on between the warlock and the vampire; Magnus did not just go about calling everybody ‘darling’, because if that had been the case, Jace would definitely have earned himself a ‘darling’ or two by now.

Well…actually, when he thought about it, probably not.

He was expecting Alec to look angry, but instead Alec’s lips quirked up in an amused smile, and then Jace just found himself feeling suspicious.

If there was some weird threesome thing going on here, Jace absolutely did not want to know. But by the angel he would also be furious that Alec had not even _told him about this_. It would blow Izzy’s unapproved-of supernatural boyfriends out of water, if Alec was seeing both a warlock and a vampire _at the same time._

Izzy and Clary still looked confused, so Jace decided to put a voice to their shared bewilderment and get some answers.

He turned back towards Magnus, who was now fretting over Raphael, healing his face with a gentle blue glow of his fingers and muttering quietly to him, whilst the vampire stood there like a sullen teenager, glaring towards Simon as if daring him to say anything.

“So,” Jace asked, aiming for casual but falling in the realm of downright curious, “What,” He said, waving a hand at Magnus and Raphael, “Is all this about?”

Golden cat eyes swivelled towards him, and Raphael’s sharp, dark eyes found him a second later.

If Jace were honest, he was kind of hoping for the threesome revelation, if only to officially declare his _parabatai_ an utterly rebellious badass, but what was revealed instead, was a bit of a confusing anticlimax. 

“Raphael is family,” Magnus said simply, before turning his yellow gaze back towards his work, finishing the healing of the cut on Raphael’s face with a flick of his wrist and dash of blue light. “There,” He said to Raphael, “And I hope that that is the last time I will be healing your face again for a long time, my boy.”

“We have a lot of time,” Raphael warned softly, “I can’t make any promises.”

 _Family_? _My boy_? What?

“Say again?” Jace asked.

“It’s none of your business, Shadowhunter,” Raphael snapped defensively, straightening his suit jacket.

“Now, now, Raphael,” Magnus scolded fondly, “Don’t be rude.” Magnus turned towards Jace with an intentionally over-dramatic flourish, clearly relishing in the spectacle that this bizarre scenario must appear to them, and smiled. “Over my many centuries I have taken many an unsupported fledgling Downworlder under my wing. I see them as my family. As I cannot have children of my own, they become like children to me. Raphael is one of them.” Magnus cast his gaze around the group before him and rolled his eyes. “Oh please, don’t act so surprised,” he said, with a haughty sniff that may or may not have been genuine, and he brushed invisible debris from the right shoulder of Raphael’s embroidered suit jacket. “Where did you think his impeccable dress sense came from?”

Magnus as adopted-father to a number of Downworlders? It was nowhere near as big of a revelation as Jace had expected, and with some hindsight, he found that it did not actually surprise him that much at all.

“And his flair for dramatic entrances,” Jace added, “Yes, I can see it now.”

Raphael’s lip curled, but Magnus just looked thoughtful, “Yes, I suppose so.”

Jace looked to Alec, to see what he had to say for himself, but Alec just shrugged his shoulders in a _‘My warlock boyfriend is the adoptive father of a bunch of Downworlders, what can you do?’_ kind of way.

“Oh, Alexander already knows,” Magnus said, clearly following Jace’s chain of thought.

“Alec?” Izzy asked their brother with gleeful curiosity.

Alec shifted awkwardly, now that all the attention was on him and not Magnus. “Magnus explained it to me and we went out for drinks at Pandemonium; me, Magnus, Raphael…and Simon.”

And then their disbelieving stares turned to Simon.

“What?” Simon asked, bemused. “It’s nice to know that as a new vamp I’ve got support from Magnus. Being a part of that…well, it’s nice. Me and Raphael were even civil over our blood cocktails, weren’t we amigo?”

“No.”

Simon cleared his throat, “‘No’ actually means something different in Spanish,” He informed Clary conversationally.

No-one bought that. Most of them spoke Spanish.

Raphael smirked at Simon, clearly pleased with himself, and then turned to speak in Magnus’ ear, voice so low that they could not hear him. Magnus nodded, and then Raphael looked back at them.

“Shadowhunters, I would say it was a pleasure but…” He shrugged, “See you the next time you come pleading for our help.” His dark eyes cut across the group, “Alec,” He acknowledged with a nod that appeared genuinely respectful, “See you soon, Simon,” He said, with a quick quirk of a smile, and it sounded like a promise, and Jace wondered how often Simon and Raphael actually did see each other. More than Simon probably told Clary about, for sure. A second later, Raphael was gone, moving so fast that he was just a blur across the tarmac and concrete.

“Well, that’s that then,” Magnus said, brushing down his own waistcoat and walking back towards them. “Now you know. So you can tell Aldertree and all the others like him that if he attempts to torture my boy again – any of my children – that they will have me to answer to.” Magnus’ voice had gone cold and dangerous, and Jace was once again reminded that Magnus was _not_ somebody that you would want to piss off.

“Torture?” Clary asked, clearly horrified, looking to Simon for answers, “What? Simon?”

“It wasn’t me,” Simon said, “Aldertree used new methods of ‘questioning’ on Raphael.”

Jace was appalled. If that was true, then Aldertree was using very questionable methods that were dangerously toeing the line of against the Accords. Jace looked to Alec again, to see if what Magnus was saying was true.

“I will tell you later,” Alec told him and Izzy, his gaze darting between them.

Izzy nodded, severe and all-business, “If that is the truth of it, Magnus, we will look into it for you.”

Magnus nodded, “Thank you, Isabelle.”

Izzy smiled genuinely, and then it slid into slyness, “So Magnus, does this mean you will be intervening in Alec and Simon’s dress sense too? You know, I’ve tried my best with Alec especially,” She sighed audibly, “But I seem to have no influence.”

Alec and Simon both looked terribly affronted, and Magnus’ brief moment of fury shattered to make way for delighted deviousness as he said, “Oh I am working on it, believe me.”

Alec glowered half-heartedly, and Jace grinned, “Alec, I can imagine you and Raphael getting on remarkably well, what with your shared penchant for brooding silences.”

“I think he would play the role of Downworlder-stepdad rather well,” Izzy agreed thoughtfully.

“Oh, leave me alone,” Alec complained, plucking irritably at the string of his bow.

“Yes, leave him be,” Magnus scolded, but he did not sound particularly defensive, and Jace wondered if that was because Magnus liked the thought of Alec co-adopting vampires or faeries or warlocks or werewolves with him. “Alexander,” Magnus rested his hand on Alec’s upper arm, and the fidgeting immediately ceased, “Let’s go back to the Institute so that you can report back on the mission, and then I can take you out for dinner.”

Alec looked up at him and smiled that smile he only ever smiled for Magnus. It was what had won Jace over so quickly to Magnus; the way that Alec smiled for him.

“Yes,” Alec agreed, still endearingly shy with Magnus even now, after their first couple of dates had already been and gone, “That would be good.”

Magnus smiled back, the fond smile that lit up his eyes as much as his cat-eyes could, and then he looked around at them all, “You are all more than welcome to join us. Simon? Isabelle? Clarissa? Jace?”

That was something that Jace was always grateful to Magnus for. Magnus liked to call people by their full names, sometimes, but he had never ever called Jace ‘Jonathan’.

“That would be lovely,” Izzy agreed, taking her brothers arm as Magnus took Alec’s other hand and led the way back to the Institute.

Jace watched them go; Izzy still teasing Alec and Magnus about their adopted Downworlder children as Alec ducked his head bashfully, and Simon explaining the situation in further depth to Clary as they followed.

Jace wondered how many Shadowhunters Magnus had adopted into his family before. Or was it a Downworlder-exclusive thing, because Shadowhunters did not have the immortality to find themselves under Magnus’ long-term care? Jace didn’t think so. By the looks of it, Magnus’ family had at least grown to include the four Shadowhunters that he had asked along to dinner, and Jace found himself agreeing with Simon. That was actually a nice thing to know; that they were a part of that, to be seen by Magnus as part of his family.

Clary turned back to look for him, and Jace smiled and followed.


	2. Alec is a good Downworlder Stepdad (and Jace is a good Downworlder Stepuncle)

 Alec was glad of the silencing rune etched into his ankle as he crept down an alleyway between two buildings.

The fight against Valentine had been getting darker and more perilous, and the Shadowhunters had been drawn out of the Institute a number of times to deal with an increasing number of demons. Aldertree had set up nightly patrols so that the Shadowhunters had a constant watch on and off the streets.

Tonight was Alec and Jace’s night on patrol. Aldertree had banned Izzy and Clary from taking the same patrols as them, because he claimed that he still could not trust them as a group not to become ‘distracted’ from their tasks and go on ‘another unsanctioned mission’. Alec disliked Aldertree’s patronisation of them, just as he knew Izzy despised being underestimated, and Jace hated being kept out of action for most missions because of his ‘affiliation’ with Valentine, and Clary being treated likewise. Alec knew Clary was frustrated at so often being kept out of the loop, and he could not blame her. These days, since Jocelyn, he was much more likely to blame himself than blame Clary for anything. He was still trying to make amends.

Aldertree had been able to split up the four of them, but even he could not deny the fighting superiority of _parabatai,_ and he could not deny that Jace was the best fighter at the Institute, and so Jace and Alec had been allowed out on patrol together. The night had been quiet, however, without a single demon encounter. Even so, Jace had decided that the pair of them should split up to cover different streets, and more ground. Alec had agreed.

They stalked separate streets, but Alec knew that Jace would be mirroring his pace and cautiousness on the parallel street, and presumably, not encountering a single demon either. As they neared the Institute, however, Alec saw something moving in the shadows.

He immediately became suspicious, and not wanting to leave anywhere unchecked, he branched off his street and down the side alley in which he had seen the movement. He was glad of the silencing rune because it made his footsteps soundless on the pavement, and he could catch any demon that was moving there by surprise.

But, as he came to discover, it was not a demon that he had silently followed successfully down the alley.

Alec pressed back into the wall of one of the buildings when he heard familiar voices, and glanced quickly around the corner of the building into the next street to investigate. Alec frowned suspiciously when he realised that one of the figures was Aldertree. And then his eyes caught on Raphael and he blinked in surprise.

“You are lucky that I answered your summons, Aldertree,” Raphael was saying, cold and wary, “After last time.”

Aldertree didn’t even flinch, “And yet here you are,” He replied, with his usual polite façade.

“Because whether I like it or not, the Accords still stand, and I want to stand by the peace between my clan and the Clave.” Even from Alec’s hiding place, he could see the scowl on Raphael’s face, “It was you that nearly broke that peace, not me, and that is why I am here, to prove to you that you cannot make me a villain so easily.”

Alec was often impressed by Raphael’s respectful yet - for the most part - intelligent association with the Institute and the Clave. It had been the reason Alec had not been particularly surprised the day that Magnus told him about his role of mentor amongst a number of Downworlders, including Raphael, and how they became like family – like children – to him. Magnus and Raphael shared a gracious manner with the Clave, but their patience with them had a limit, if it meant that they or their loved ones were the least bit wronged by them.

Magnus had told Alec many things about himself since their first date. He had been honest, and told Alec that over his many centuries, Magnus had dated men, women, seelies, vampires, warlocks. It had taken Alec a little while to get over such a thought, particularly with Magnus being the first and only person Alec had ever allowed himself to truly love (he had thought that he loved Jace, but that had been before he had met Magnus and understood what true love felt like). But he ultimately came to understand Magnus’ long and varied history of partners, because the thought of Magnus being alone for hundreds of years was far worse than the knowledge of Magnus dating those people over that long period of time. Magnus telling him of his relationship history had also meant that Alec had not been particularly surprised when Magnus had told him that he had also gathered himself a family of Downworlders that he had taken under his wing; due to their being alone, or abandoned, as fledglings.

“Raphael is the one who is closest to me,” Magnus had said, and Alec assumed that Magnus meant both in current distance to Magnus, with them both living in the same city, and also, most possibly, closest to Magnus’ heart, as well.

“He is your favourite,” Alec had surmised.

“Now, now, Alec, I don’t have favourites,” Magnus had clucked his tongue with amusement, and then cocked his head slightly to one side, “Actually, yes I do.” Magnus had smiled at him fondly, and hooked his little finger around Alec’s, “You are my favourite.”

“I wasn’t fishing for compliments, you know,” Alec had said, not able to help smiling at the compliment anyway, ducking his head.

“I know you weren’t, Alec,” Magnus had smiled at him. “But I thought I needed you to know that anyway.” He had looked thoughtful for a moment, and Alec had absently played with Magnus’ fingers, until Magnus had said, “Raphael is one of my favourites of my Downworlders, however. We have been through a lot together. He has needed me and I have needed him, whether it be by providing company, or aid, or advice or even just to know that there was someone we could always trust. It is for all those reasons and a hundred more why I chose Raphael over Camille. But I have other Downworlders to care for too. I have Simon, now of course. He is my youngest. He is a good kid, and he just needs steering in the right direction by accepting who he is now.”

Alec had thought about that, “He is always so busy worrying about Clary, I think he puts himself second a lot of the time.”

“Which is why he needs that extra guiding hand. Raphael has tried, but Raphael can also be mildly intimidating before you get to know him. He is a good boy really, and I can tell he likes Simon really. Simon seems to like him too, despite everything, but he does not seem accepting of offered help from other vampires, which is understandable, but troublesome. Simon needs support, and if he does not feel his can yet trust his own kind, then I can give him that in the meantime.”

“Well, I would like to help,” Alec had said, knowing that that was what Magnus was searching for; Alec’s acceptance of what he had been told. “I can check in with Simon every now and again. I know Izzy does too.”

Magnus had beamed and it had lit up his face so brightly that Alec had not been able to help smiling back. “You are truly wonderful, Alexander. You know that don’t you?”

Alec had stammered something and shuffled.

Magnus had taken his hand and effectively stilled him. “I was wondering,” Magnus had said cautiously, “I was wondering if you would like to go to Pandemonium with me for drinks, but we could ask Raphael and Simon along too? It would allow me to check up on Raphael, and you could get to know him a little better. And it would get Simon and Raphael talking too. Raphael is still a little grumpy with Simon for the Camille incident.”

Magnus had been looking at him so eagerly, his dark eyes soft and enchanting, that there had been no way in the darkest hell that Alec would have been able to say no to him.

Alec had nodded, “Yeah, ok.”

Magnus had smiled again, wide and pleased, and had leaned in to press a kiss to the corner of Alec’s mouth. “Thank you, Alexander,” he had murmured.

Alec had moved his head to kiss him properly, and Magnus had melted into Alec’s taller frame, hands threading up into Alec’s hair, as Alec’s hands had found Magnus’ thin, glitter-belted hips.

Alec _had_ gotten to know Raphael better over drinks at Pandemonium, and the way that Raphael was now standing in that alleyway, defiantly and bravely glaring down Victor Aldertree, was enough to make Alec know that if things went south between the Head of the Institute and the Head of the Vampire Clan, he knew without a doubt whose side he would run to.

“I was justified in what I had to do,” Aldertree said, actually attempting to sound appeasing, his voice calm and reasonable-sounding. “And you know it. You were not giving up the location of Camille. And I am still not entirely convinced that your clan is not creating new dens without her.”

“They do what I tell them,” Raphael said flatly, “So no, they are not following Camille’s example. They are following mine.”

“Does that mean that you will take full responsibility and punishment for any violation of the Accords acted out by members of your clan? Do you trust them enough?”

Raphael paused, “If you are trying to make me give up information about my clan, then you are not going to succeed. You also have very peculiar priorities, Aldertree, what with Valentine and the Soul Sword and the Mortal Cup still gone…”

Aldertree frowned, and it looked shadowed and severe in the low light of the alley. “That suggests you _do_ have information about your clan that you are not willing to divulge.”

Raphael bared his teeth and they glinted in the semi-dark. “Going to ‘question’ me again, are you? Take out some of your anger because your leadership has not stopped Valentine, nor gained back the missing Mortal Instrument, and has even overseen the loss of another?”

“I will if I have to, and you are giving me little choice.” Aldertree’s tone was low and only now, beginning to sound mildly threatening in tone; his reasonable front cracking slightly.

Alec was just about to round the corner to interrupt them and stop Aldertree from whatever game he was playing, when someone else beat him to it.

He saw Magnus’ cat eyes reflecting in the darkness from the opposite side of the alley before his boyfriend even appeared beside Raphael.

“Clutching desperately at straws again, Aldertree?” Magnus’ voice was full of poisonous dislike, and Alec had not heard him speak with a tone like that before, “Torturing somebody just because you felt like you could?”

“Spying on us were you, warlock?”

Magnus’ eyes narrowed and his mouth thinned angrily, “Raphael told me that he had been summoned, and I came to support him,” Magnus promptly took a step forwards, sliding neatly in front of Raphael as he did so. “I cannot believe you would dare threaten him again, after your disgraceful behaviour of last time.”

“Well it appears he has not learned to co-operate and is still keeping his clan’s unpleasant secrets. The warnings I issued disappeared like the marks on his face. I would be happy to reteach him the lessons he refused to learn.”

Raphael lurched forwards suddenly, teeth bared, but Magnus was apparently expecting it, as he flung out his arm against Raphael’s chest to stop him and keep him firmly behind him.

 “And what about the lessons I was supposed to learn from what you did to him?” Magnus asked coldly, “I know you did what you did to punish me, too. But I will tell you now, Aldertree, in case it was not clear, if you touch one more hair on his head, you will have me to answer to. And if you ever threaten Alexander’s life like you did by hindering aid for his recovery by attempting to throw me out of the Institute and putting your own agenda first, then I will come for you again.”

“I would be careful, warlock,” Aldertree responded, equally cold now, “You have already gone against the Accords and attacked one Shadowhunter, and now you are threatening me, the Head of the New York Institute. I would tread very carefully, or you may find yourself sharing a cell with your friend Camille in Idris.”

“How dare you,” Magnus’ voice was like icy thunder, and blue sparks began crackling at his fingertips.

He saw Raphael put his hand over Magnus’ to cease the sparks as the vampire shoved himself in front of Magnus now, glaring at Aldertree.

“If you threaten Magnus, you make an enemy of many of your Shadowhunters, you make an enemy of me and my clan, Luke and the Werewolves, and hundreds of warlocks and Downworlders besides.” Raphael smiled hostilely. “That is not a war you want.”

Aldertree opened his mouth to respond, but Alec beat him to it, having already broken from his hiding place and striding towards them.

“You should listen to Raphael, Aldertree,” Alec said as he reached them, planting himself firmly between Aldertree and Raphael. “That is not a war you want to start. Magnus has done nothing but help us since Valentine returned, and Raphael and his clan have always aided the Institute in times of need.”

“Even when they kidnapped and turned Simon Lewis, against the Accords?”

“That was Camille,” Alec dismissed immediately, “Raphael saved Simon and then took him into his clan the moment she was gone. And who are you to speak of these two breaking the Accords? Your methods of ‘questioning’ are nothing more than torture. The only person breaking the Accords here is you.”

“Lightwood, if you wish to question my methods, we will do so at the Institute. I should have known you would be troublesome about this. Maybe confining you to the Institute will halt your affiliation with Accord-breaking Downworlders.”

“They did not break any Accords,” Alec demanded again, “And if you do not leave them alone, I will be informing the Clave that you have been using illegal torture against innocent Downworlders.”

“Oh, will you?” Aldertree asked with an unpleasant smile, “And do you think anybody will listen to you?” He clasped his hands in front of him, inoffensive in stance, even as he said with as much offense as he could probably muster; “After all, you are the disgraced son of a disgraced family…” He trailed off, letting the words hang in the air between them.

Alec sensed movement behind him and he said, “Magnus, it’s alright.” He fixed his gaze back on Aldertree.

“You think that they aren’t talking about you back in Idris?” Aldertree continued, voice irritating in its pleasant-toned cruelty. “The boy that was due to marry, but called off his wedding by kissing a male warlock in the aisle? The adopted son of Valentine who has allegiance enough to his father not to kill him on sight? The Lightwood children who kept running off on unsanctioned missions with the Mundane daughter of Valentine? The ex-Circle member Lightwood parents who are unable to control their own children, let alone an Institute? I have heard it all.”

Alec attempted to control the shake that threatened his voice when he said, “A ‘disgraced’ family we may be, but that does not mean that we are without friends. If enough people report you, it will be investigated. And I imagine the concentrated UV-ray that you used to torture Raphael is a now a permanent fixture? I wonder what other illegal devices they will find if they look hard enough…”

“You wouldn’t betray your own kind for theirs.” There was surety those words. “No matter what creature you are falling into bed with.”

“Wouldn’t I?” Alec asked, swallowing down his anger at Aldertree’s demeaning slur against Magnus. “My _kind_ are supposed to work with innocent Downworlders and keep to the Accords. You don’t. So, yes, I would report you if it meant stopping you from torturing them.”

“And so would I, by the way,” came a voice to their left. Alec turned to see Jace sauntering casually towards them. “And seeing as I have just recorded this entire conversation on my phone…” He waved said phone in front of them, “So I can also provide evidence against you if Alec, Magnus and Raphael decide that they do want to report you.” He smiled a smug smile, “Handy little devices these,” He commented, before stowing the phone in his pocket.

Alec was eternally grateful to his brother, his _parabatai_ , in that moment. Jace always knew how to arrive at just the right, and often last possible, moment.

“Or,” Alec told Aldertree, “We can all five of us agree to leave this here. Your torturing of Downworlders for information stops, Magnus and Raphael will continue to obey the Accords, and Jace and I won’t report you.”

Aldertree watched them all stonily, but it was clear that he could not figure a way out that did not have him being at least reported and investigated by the Clave.

Finally, after a long moment of deliberating silence, Aldertree smiled, all pleasant once again, “I think we have an agreement for now. Alec, Jace, I will see you back at the Institute, because I am very disappointed in your abandonment of your patrol this evening. Report to my office once you are done.”

And then he walked away.

“Jackass,” Jace grumbled. “He is going to have us off field work and doing research for weeks.”

Alec turned to Jace the moment that Aldertree was out of earshot, “What are you doing here?”

“What?” Jace asked, “Oh! You were taking a while so I came looking for you, and I thought, whilst I was at it, I would also play my role of doting Downworlder uncle and brother-in-law.” He winked. “You can thank me later, brother dear. I will leave you to your Downworlder son and husband. See you back at the Institute.” And with a quick grin behind Alec to Magnus and Raphael, Jace was off, leaping up onto a dumpster and then up onto the nearest fire escape, which he scaled with lightning speed and then was over onto the roof.

Alec blinked, and then turned to face Magnus and Raphael. They were both watching him; Magnus with adoring awe, and Raphael with poorly veiled respect.

Magnus swept forward immediately, taking Alec’s face in his hands and kissing him, “You never fail to amaze me, Alexander,” He breathed once their lips parted, his head tilted up and his dark eyes darting over Alec’s face.

“I was only doing the right thing,” Alec said, encircling Magnus’ wrists with his fingers, still horrified that Aldertree had threatened to send Magnus away to trial and imprisonment in Idris.

“Well it means a lot.” It was Raphael who answered instead of Magnus, and Alec looked at him over Magnus’ shoulder. Raphael was not the least fazed by Magnus and Alec’s intimate hold on each other, and was watching Alec with a new curiosity, “Thank you, Alec,” he said. It was simple but honest, and Alec found himself thrilled at having earned Raphael’s apparent trust. “Thank you for protecting Magnus. And me and my clan.”

“Yes,” Magnus said, and Alec looked back to him, “Thank you, Alec. You were wonderful.” He then lowered his voice to add, “And I am sure those things he said to you about what they think of you and your family weren’t true.”

Alec shrugged, “I don’t care if they are true, that they are saying those things.” He said, and knew that he meant it. “I wouldn’t take back helping Clary, I wouldn’t take back going on those unsanctioned missions. I wouldn’t give Jace up for the world, and I wouldn’t take back kissing you on my wedding day, and choosing you over my role in that world.”

“Oh Alexander,” Magnus smiled, practically lighting up in his arms.

Alec savoured that sight for a moment, but then he sighed. It was time to face the inevitable. “I am going to have to go and report back to the Institute. I can’t let Jace face him on his own.”

“Don’t let him get to either of you, Alec. You and Jace both have been wonderful in standing up to him on our behalf. Do thank Jace for us as well.”

Alec could not be more thrilled that Magnus appeared to be warming to Jace by the day. It made him feel a little happier about having to go and face Aldertree.

“I will,” Alec promised.

Magnus smiled up at him and then looked to Raphael, “Raphael, would you like to come back to my place with me? I think we have things to discuss.”

Raphael nodded and his mouth quirked in a small smile.

“Call me the moment you can,” Magnus told Alec. “Let me know how it goes. If he dares try anything you tell me straight away.”

“I will,” Alec promised again; even though he was adamant that he was going to do all that he could to prevent Magnus from putting himself in the firing line with Aldertree again in the future.

Magnus nodded and pulled him down for another quick kiss, before moving away, “I wish I could come with you, but I believe I will likely be banned from the Institute still…if not again.”

“Well, I will just have to come and see you, then,” Alec suggested hopefully.

“Do not sound so unsure, Alexander,” Magnus rolled his eyes. He twisted his wrists in Alec’s hands, and once Alec released them, he slid his fingers into Alec’s. “You are welcome anytime. You know that.”

“And if you ever need any help from me or my clan,” Raphael put in, “Just ask it.”

Alec nodded his thanks.

Before Magnus and Raphael left, Raphael came forward to clasp Alec’s hand, and Alec smiled at him, trying to ignore the way that Magnus was practically shining with delight behind Raphael at the sight of the pair of them getting along.

When Alec got back to the Institute, he found Jace sitting glumly outside of Aldertree’s office. Jace looked up at him, and the frown lightened into a grin.

“You are well in with the Downworlder-family now, brother,” Jace said.

Alec was about to protest, but only found himself nodding instead, “Yeah,” He said with a smile that made Jace’s own smile soften, “Yeah, I think I am.”


	3. Raphael is a good Downworlder Son (and Simon is too)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New short story y'all! Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Warning: Spoilers up to 2x13!

Raphael Santiago stood behind one of the covered windows in his room at the Hotel Dumort, and wondered what it must feel like to be able to rip down the shutters, draw open the curtains, and feel sunlight on his face after so many decades.

Simon Lewis was a _Daylighter_ now, after mere weeks of being a vampire. Decades, Raphael had been confined to the dark, with any beam of sunlight that ever managed to find him burning into his flesh. It didn’t seem fair, and the _Daylighter_ powers certainly weren’t normal. But then, Simon had never been normal. He hadn’t been one to follow the rules; which was why Simon was out in the city somewhere fighting with the Shadowhunters, whilst Raphael and his clan stayed firmly in the protective sanctity of the Hotel Dumort.

Valentine was imprisoned at the Institute, ready to be sent to Idris, but the battle was far from over. His followers were still continuing to cause chaos in his absence, and a previously unfound group of Valentine’s affected ‘project’ Downworlders had been let out to cause carnage in the city. Even from behind bars, Valentine was still causing them all problems, and the Mortal Cup and the Soul Sword were both still gone.

According to the message Raphael had received only an hour ago, the fight between the Shadowhunters and Valentine’s creatures had come together to a centralised battle that was likely still raging. Raphael supposed that it did not help the Shadowhunters that they did not have any Downworlders fighting alongside them, besides Simon. Despite Alec Lightwood being the new Head of the New York Institute, which meant that Downworlder and Shadowhunter relations were bound to improve significantly, time was needed for that to be achieved. It had not been at all long since Inquisitor Herondale had ordered the implanting of tracking chips in Downworlders, and with Valentine’s Soul Sword massacre still very fresh and raw in Downworlder memory, the Shadowhunters did not currently have many Downworlders willing to lay down their lives yet again for someone else’s cause. Luke’s pack were still sore over the many slights by the Shadowhunters, and although Luke might be there fighting with them, and Maia, possibly, Raphael doubted any of the other Werewolves would be willing. Magnus was on business in Beijing, so he wouldn’t be there. The Fair Folk never got involved in anything that did not directly affect them.

And the Vampires? It wasn’t their fight to fight. Not this time. He and his clan had suffered major losses through the activation of the Soul Sword and there had been some subsequent wavering doubt in his leadership amongst members of his clan because of his close association with the New York Institute. He was still working to prove himself a worthy leader once again. He could not send his clan out to aid the Shadowhunters yet again. Besides, the sun was only just setting, so they couldn’t have helped even if he had wanted them to. So he didn’t have to care.

But he found that he did. He did care.

Simon was there, fighting alongside Clary. Alec was out there too, and Magnus probably knew nothing about it; he was away in Beijing until nightfall and Alec likely hadn’t told him, not wanting him to worry. Isabelle would be fighting, too, Raphael knew, with an uncomfortable twist of the heart. He and Izzy had, for the most part, repaired the damage that had been done by her _Yin Fen_ addiction; their working together to defeat Kaelie and save Izzy’s younger brother with Meliorn had helped with that. Yet whilst he still cared for her very much, as they had shared many happy moments together despite the drug and blood addictions they were suffering with, every time Raphael thought of those times, he could not help but gain an unwelcome taste-memory of Shadowhunter blood in his mouth. He still needed time to make a full recovery from the addiction. He swallowed heavily, curled his lip and turned away from the setting sunlight that crept its way across the room towards him from the cracks in the boarding of the opposite window.

This wasn’t his fight. He didn’t have to care.

But he left the Hotel Dumort the moment that night descended on the streets of New York.

***

It wasn’t hard for Raphael to locate the fight; he could smell the mix of demon, human and Shadowhunter blood from streets away. He was moving so fast towards the sounds and smell of the battle that he almost missed the dark figure slumped at the side of one of the streets that he was hurtling down, but his vision was sharp, and his curiosity was peaked, and so he came to an abrupt halt, and turned back around again.

The person was on the floor, back against a building beside the mouth of an alley, their legs splayed in front of them. As he drew closer, the first thing that hit Raphael was the scent of blood. The second was the realisation that the figure was Alec Lightwood, and that he didn’t appear to be moving.

“Alec?” Raphael questioned, dropping to a crouch in front of the Shadowhunter, scanning him quickly and taking in his battered face and the wounds in his arm, shoulder and chest, and confirming that the Shadowhunter was still breathing. “Alec?” He said again, more insistently, reaching forwards cautiously to tap two of his fingers against the Shadowhunter’s cheek, not wanting to get blood on his fingers, cautious that his not-long-passed blood addiction would try to rise again.

Alec’s head jerked slightly to the side at the contact, and he then groaned at the movement. His eyes opened narrowly, heavy-lidded from exhaustion and blood-loss, and he took several moments to focus.

“Raphael?” he mumbled.

Raphael hummed in confirmation. He flicked his gaze away from Alec and down the alley beside them, and his night-vision easily picked up five motionless shapes lying on the ground, before eyeing the empty quiver that lay abandoned about a foot away. Alec’s bow was nowhere to be seen. It looked like Alec had been outnumbered, but had ultimately won the fight. It was certainly impressive.

“Where are your people?” Raphael asked.

Alec shrugged in a lethargic way that was most unlike him. Alec was always switched on and alert, an over-thinker and a worrier, always concerned for others above himself. Particularly now that he was Head of the New York Institute, Raphael could imagine his feelings of responsibility for others would have increased tenfold. Raphael had witnessed that concern for others first hand, and knew that Alec’s care for others was something that Magnus admired in Alec, but that Alec’s almost-reckless martyr complex also worried the Warlock.

Alec’s sluggish reaction to Raphael’s question therefore meant that Alec was clearly not doing well at all, or that he had not been fully aware to what Raphael had been asking him.

“Alec,” Raphael snapped his fingers in front of Alec’s face, “Focus. Where is your stele? You can heal yourself, can’t you?”

Alec nodded, his hand drifting towards where his jacket pocket may once have been, if it had still been there. The Shadowhunter’s jacket had been ripped up one side, and a large part of it was missing and shredded.

Alec frowned drowsily. “It should be…”

“Yes, well it is not now, clearly,” Raphael said. He took a breath and weighed up his options. “You can’t stay here,” He decided, taking his cell phone out of his pocket. “The Institute is too far away for me to take you. I will have to take you to Magnus’.”

“Magnus…” Alec repeated, the ‘s’ slurring and trailing off.

“Yes, Magnus,” Raphael said, shortly, knowing that if he was going to get Alec help, he had to act fast.

He found Magnus’ number in his phone and pressed it to his ear. The call went straight to voicemail; Magnus was likely with a client or using a magic that muddled the signal.

“Come back now. It’s Alec,” was all he said by way of a message before ending the call.

He sent Simon a text next, with the address of the street they were on and a short message - ‘ _Come now. Urgent. I’m with Alec_ ’. He reckoned he would likely need help in this, and if Simon wasn’t too distracted by the fight, he hoped Simon would come, if it was for Alec.

As he weighed his options about moving Alec or waiting with him where he sat, his eyes unsteadily drifted towards the wound staining the remains of the shoulder of Alec’s black jacket with blood, before he forced them away again. He sighed, not eager to tarnish his clothes, before ripping off strips of the bottom of his deep-maroon shirt, in order to wrap strips of it around Alec’s most obvious, but thankfully shallow-looking wounds, stifling the loss of any more blood.

As he tied the last piece, he heard a commotion in the next street over, and he immediately dropped into a wary, defensive stance. Valentine’s creatures could easily be following the trail of Alec’s blood. As he waited, and watched, keen gaze darting up and down the street, he heard an inhumane shriek, and knew there were creatures coming closer. It was then that he decided that he and Alec could not stay there.

He took another sharp breath in through his nose, not at all wishing to put himself so close to such copious amounts of blood, summoned his composure, and moved, hauling Alec’s arm over his shoulder and using his superior supernatural strength to heave Alec onto unsteady feet.

Alec hissed softly through his teeth at the pain of standing, but he now seemed aware enough to steady himself against Raphael’s side.

The scent of blood was stronger now. Alec was tall, and Raphael’s head was situated rather too close to the Shadowhunter’s rune-painted neck for his liking. It did not help that Raphael was not long past his fresh-blood addiction, an addiction to Shadowhunter blood, no less, which was much more potent and succulent to vampires than human blood. There was also the fact that it had been an addiction to Alec’s sister’s blood. His fangs pushed unwanted into his lower lip for a moment and he tasted his own blood on his tongue, but it was enough for him to will them to retract again.

Alec was leaning heavily against him, and it took all over Raphael’s strength and attention to get them moving. The longer they walked, which had to have only been minutes, the more Alec flagged in consciousness and state.

Raphael and Alec had had their ups and downs. Before the catastrophe that was called Simon Lewis had entered his life (yes, he supposed they had kidnapped Simon in the first place, so had ultimately brought him upon themselves), he had not thought much of the Shadowhunters, and the Lightwoods in particular. That had changed once Magnus had started dating Alec, and had asked Raphael, Simon and Alec for drinks at _Pandemonium_ in order ‘to get to know each other a little better’. Since then, Alec had stood up for Raphael on a couple of significant occasions, and Raphael had been warming to him and his awkward severity rather quickly.

But then Isabelle had come begging to him, having been unwillingly made dependent on _Yin Fen,_ and had in turn gotten him back onto the bloodlust addiction that he had been certain he had overcome long ago. Alec had caught them, and had beaten Raphael up for the trouble. Raphael had been angry at the time, high on the addiction and adamant that his lust for Izzy’s blood had been true, honest feelings for her. The journey off their respective drugs had been hard for both him and Izzy, but he had come out of it knowing that Magnus had been right; he and Izzy were nothing like Alec and Magnus, and that Alec had been right to defend his little sister, as he had not known all the facts. He had not known then that the whole mess had been Aldertree’s fault in the first place. Alec had cold shouldered him since, much to Magnus’ chagrin, but Raphael did not blame Alec for it. Whilst he and Izzy had been repairing the bridges between them, the one between he and Alec remained deteriorated. He was hoping to fix it.

By helping Alec in his hour of need, Raphael hoped that it would get him back on the road to forgiveness. He needed forgiveness from Alec for what he and Izzy had done. He realised that Alec meant something to him, now, and not just because of how much he meant to Magnus, but also because Raphael liked Alec. He didn’t want him to die. He wanted them to get back to the relationship of mutual respect and civility that they had had before Alec had found Raphael and Izzy together. And he still wanted forgiveness from Magnus, who, despite claiming otherwise, was still disappointed with him, both for what happened with Izzy and for being willing to kill Clary on the night Valentine activated the Soul Sword. Magnus had hugged him tight the moment he had seen that Raphael had survived the massacre, but Raphael knew that that did not mean that he was not still disappointed.

It was a struggle supporting Alec down the streets, Raphael’s strength only just helping him in the fight against Alec’s height and increasing dead weight. There was blood on Raphael’s hands, arms and suit, and he tried to ignore it, even as a hunger he had learned to quash decades ago gnawed at him like it had never been away. In a momentary lapse, the hunger told him how easy it would be to just lean over and sink his fangs into the soft pale flesh of Alec’s throat. It reminded him how good Alec smelt, of how good he would taste, if he tasted anything like Izzy. Would Alec be sweeter than his sister? Less spicy, maybe. He wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight, and the hunger wouldn’t need to take all that much anyway… Raphael shook those terrible thoughts from his head with disgust the moment they arrived. He cursed himself for allowing them to descend in the first place. He pushed forcefully through that fog of bloodlust, and he steadfastly ignored it, and he carried on.

He hauled Alec forward through a third street, feet stumbling and staggering. He knew that he could not hail a taxi with Alec in the state he was in, and whilst the three streets they had travelled had been remarkably deserted of Mundanes, he knew that that would not last, and he would not know what to do once they ran into one. He doubted Alec’s invisibility rune would be holding, and he himself was now covered in scarlet.

Thankfully, he was saved from having to put his concerns into action, as something blurred up the street towards them at alarming speed. He knew who it was. Simon had gotten his text.

“Simon!” Raphael shouted.

Simon skidded to a halt beside them, and Raphael never thought he would be so thankful to see Simon Lewis. He was still wary and disconcerted (and possibly a little bitter and threatened) by the new _Daylighter_ powers that Simon had suddenly developed. Since the confrontation with Simon in the Jade Wolf, in which Simon had revealed himself a _Daylighter_ to some of Raphael’s clan, Raphael had been giving Simon a wide berth. He knew that Magnus, Clary and Jace had been keeping an eye on the fledgling instead. He was distrustful of Simon’s new powers, but right at that moment, he was relieved to see him. Not that he was going to let Simon know that, of course.

Simon was covered in grime and blood, but appeared unharmed. He was staring at Alec like Alec had grown a second head or something equally as remarkable.

“Is that Alec?”

Raphael rolled his eyes impatiently, “Of course it’s Alec.”

“But he looks so…” Simon paused, “Small.”

Raphael snorted. Alec certainly hadn’t _felt_ small for the last three streets.

“I was at the fight,” Simon babbled, his gaze fixed on Alec, who was slumping into Raphael’s grip now that they had stopped moving, and seemed pretty out of it. “There were so many of them. I didn’t even realise he had gone.” He paused and looked torn, “Should I go back and tell the others, I came straight here without telling them…”

“No,” Raphael snapped, “I am taking him to Magnus’ but he is not in a good way. I couldn’t reach Magnus and left a voicemail. I need you to try Magnus’ phone again, and help me with Alec.”

Simon nodded quickly, and the clan leader in Raphael that was always trying to make Simon Lewis listen and understand, could not help but be silently pleased at him following an order. “Ok. Hang on.”

Before Simon could even get his phone out of his pocket, the one in Raphael’s started ringing. Unable to let go of Alec for fear of him falling straight to the ground, Raphael glared at Simon, “Well, get it then!”

Simon stared.

“I’m not particularly happy about it either. But I’m a little tied up right now,” Raphael snapped, shifting Alec as evidence, and the Shadowhunter mumbled something incoherently. “You. Get it. Now.”

Simon swallowed, and awkwardly reached forward, slipping his hand into the pocket of Raphael’s suit trousers, unable to make eye contact. Raphael rolled his eyes impatiently at Simon’s ridiculous behaviour.

Simon retrieved the phone, and answered the call.

“Magnus? It’s Simon. Yes I’m with them. He’s injured. He’s not looking great, Magnus. We need you here. Ok. Ok. Yeah, of course.” Simon shot off at Vampire speed to the end of the street, before returning, reading off the address of the street as he went. “You want us to? Ok. Ok.” And then he pulled the phone away from his ear. “Magnus is still in Beijing, and only just got your message. He is going to portal straight here. So all we have to do is wait.”

Raphael let out a sigh of relief, and with Simon’s help, dragged Alec over to the nearest wall, and lowered him down so that he was sitting up against it.

“Magnus is on his way,” Raphael told Alec, but Alec’s eyes were closed and he most likely was not listening.

His chest was still rising and falling though, which Raphael took as the best sign.

Alec was still more alive than him and Simon, anyway.

He slumped down on Alec’s right side, and Simon did the same on Alec’s left. Simon leant around Alec to pass Raphael his phone.

“Keep talking to him,” Raphael told him. “I need to concentrate.”

“Concentrate on what?”

“Controlling the bloodlust,” Raphael muttered.

“Oh,” Simon eyed him warily, “Are you sure you…”

“I am asking you to talk, Simon. Take the opportunity to do so, because it is the one and only time that I don’t want you to shut the hell up.”

Simon did as he was told, babbling to Alec a mile a minute about some movie that he thought Alec would hate, but reminded Simon very much like the brooding, handsome male lead.

It felt like a long time, waiting, listening past the sound of Simon’s voice to the sound of Alec breathing, just to make sure that he still was. For someone who had lived as long as Raphael had, three minutes should not have felt so long, but they dragged.

But finally, finally, there was a crackling in the middle of the street, before the circular form of a portal appeared and widened, and Magnus came striding through it, a powerful figure in sparkling magic, majestic in his tight black pants and flowing red shirt with traditional Chinese pattern. He had a touch of red dye in his hair. He would get a bit more red on him too, by the end of the night, Raphael could not help think, a little morbidly, trying not to look at how blood stained his own skin and clothes were.

Magnus looked frantically up and down the street before his gaze landed on them and he rushed forwards. Raphael stood up immediately and stepped towards him.

“I am sorry,” Raphael started, still feeling the need to explain himself and apologise to Magnus for more than just this. “I have done everything that I could have…”

Magnus ran long, smooth fingers over Raphael’s jaw in acknowledgement and silent thanks as he passed him, before he knelt down in front of Alec in one fluid movement.

“Alec?” Magnus breathed, taking the boy’s face carefully into his hands.

Alec’s face was bruised and bloody, his lip split and one of his eyes blackening.

“Oh Alexander. You poor thing,” Magnus murmured, before a glow of blue light fed from Magnus’ fingertips into his hold on Alec’s face. “Wake up for me, please. Wake up.”

It took a moment, but Alec finally gave a deep gasp, and turned his face into Magnus’ fingers, his eyelashes fluttering as he forced them open.

“Magnus?” Alec asked, confused and still slurring, “You’re in China.”

“No,” Magnus said softly, “Not anymore. We have to get you back to the apartment, so we are going to portal there, ok?”

“Ok,” Alec replied in a murmur, even as his eyes slipped closed again.

“No, no,” Magnus ran a thumb under Alec’s bruised eye, “Stay awake, my darling. Look at me.”

Alec did as he was told, ever the soldier following orders, and Magnus let out a breath of relief. “Good. Good boy. Stay with me, now, ok? Stay focused on me.” He glanced to Simon and Raphael, “Let’s get him home.”

Magnus took Alec’s arm, and Simon automatically reached for the other one. They got Alec on his feet, and supported him towards the swirling portal.

“Raphael,” Magnus said, “You go first.”

Raphael nodded sharply, turned on his heel and walked straight through the portal and into Magnus’ apartment, knowing that the others were right behind him.

They got Alec to Magnus’ bedroom, with Magnus using his magic to throw the silk bedspread back to the cotton underneath. Simon was babbling about how he had received Raphael’s text and had rushed off with barely a word to any of the Shadowhunters, who had been in the midst of battle.

“It wasn’t until I got the text that I had even realised that Alec wasn’t there. Jace might have noticed, I don’t know, I was so busy fighting that I didn’t check. They just kept coming! When I left they were all still fighting, there wasn’t time to tell them where I was going.”

Magnus moved behind Alec to take the weight of his torso as Simon lifted the Shadowhunter’s legs and they lifted and placed him carefully on the bed. Magnus sat down on the edge of the bed beside him.

“Simon,” Magnus said, “Send a text to Jace and Isabelle to inform them where Alec is. Then you can go back to the fight if you want to, I know you will be concerned about Clary. Raphael, in the black safe in the lounge there is a spare stele. You know the combination.”

Raphael moved silently out of the room to fetch the stele and returned to see Magnus smoothing his ringed fingers through Alec’s hair with one hand, as the other glowed a sparkling blue as it hovered over his injured body.

“Magnus,” Raphael said, holding the stele out.

Magnus took the stele from him with a nod of thanks, his eyes pausing with concern on Raphael’s face, before he turned back to Alec.

“Alec, love, can you hear me?” Magnus murmured, tracing Alec’s hairline with two fingers.

Raphael glanced up at Simon, who was tucking his phone back into his pocket, having texted Izzy and Jace. Raphael and Izzy rarely texted each other anymore. Sometimes he missed it, but most of the time not enough to actually send a message.

“Are you sure I can go back? Do you want me to…” Simon started, but Magnus waved him off, sending him a grateful smile before his gaze fixed back on Alec.

“Go, Simon, if you wish to. And thank you.”

Simon looked at Raphael then, and held his gaze. Raphael was surprised that Simon hesitated and shifted on his feet.

Raphael sent him a nod of thanks, and a nod of permission, because that was what he assumed Simon was after, and a smile flickered at Simon’s lips, before he sped out of the room, and then out of the apartment.

When Raphael turned back to Magnus and Alec, Magnus had managed to rouse the Shadowhunter through soft words and careful touches.

“Magnus?” Alec mumbled.

“Yes Alexander, I’m here,” Magnus smiled, even as his eyes shone with emotion. He pressed the stele into Alec’s loose grip. “I need you to activate your healing rune.”

Alec nodded and clumsily lifted exhausted arms to do as he was told. Magnus, meanwhile, snapped his fingers and summoned a bowl of water and a cloth.

Alec gasped as the stele triggered his healing, and Magnus hushed him, carding his hand through Alec’s dark hair.

“Where are the others?” Alec asked, looking up anxiously at Magnus, as the healing rune brought him back to awareness.

“As far as I am aware they are still fighting, but Simon has sent a message to them. They will be here soon I am sure.”

Alec made an attempt to sit up, but Magnus pushed him gently back down by his unwounded shoulder. “You have to rest, Alexander.”

“I need to…”

“All you need to do is heal,” Magnus interrupted firmly, “They will all be fine, they will have protected each other. What I don’t understand is how you managed to end up alone.”

Alec pulled a face like he was about to be scolded, and slumped further into the pillows, “I saw a couple of the creatures make a break for it. I went after them, thinking I could pick them off before they could re-enter the streets and escape. More of them were hanging back on the side-lines than I thought. I got cut off and surrounded.”

Magnus frowned, “You should have taken someone with you.”

“It was a spur of the moment decision. I should have but…” Alec shifted and bit back a moan as his body protested, “I’m the Head of the Institute, Magnus, I can’t…”

“And I’m the High Warlock of Brooklyn,” Magnus cut in, exasperated but fond, “And even I need help sometimes.”

Alec’s face fell, and he groped for Magnus’ hand, holding onto it. “I know, I’m sorry.”

It suddenly seemed like a very intimate moment, and Raphael felt terribly awkward being there. He took it as his cue to back quickly out of the room.

He could have left Magnus’ apartment then, but there was something about the familiarity of Magnus’ possessions and presence that calmed him, and he needed to be calm. He wandered up towards the grand industrial-sized window of Magnus’ apartment and stared down at his hands as the city lights lit up the dark blood crusted on to them.

His bloodlust urged him to slip his finger into his mouth, just to get a taste of blood, as his conscience screamed at him not to. He snarled, angry with himself, as his inner turmoil raged, and he ripped at his shirt, still damp with blood, and tore it open and off him, tearing it into two pieces.

“Raphael.”

He froze at the sound of Magnus’ voice, and wondered for a moment how he must look, eyes wild, teeth bared, standing shirtless in the middle of the room with his shirt torn to pieces in his bloody hands.

Raphael turned around to face Magnus properly, not able to look him in the eye. He did not know quite what to say, so he did not say anything.

Magnus walked to him, and took his face in his hands as though he had not just witnessed Raphael freaking out, “You saved Alexander, Raphael, and I cannot thank you enough.” He took a breath, his eyes warm, but concerned, searching Raphael’s face. “You look pale, darling.”

“I’m always pale,” Raphael said.

Magnus’ lips quirked into a small smile at Raphael’s response.

“Paler than usual,” Magnus corrected. His thumb smoothed over Raphael’s jaw. “Are you ok?”

“It’s the blood,” Raphael was not going to lie. “There was so much of it. It’s hard to stop myself.”

“And yet you have been strong enough to resist,” Magnus told him adamantly, “I am so proud of you, my boy. But I am sorry that you have been put in such a situation so soon to overcoming the bloodlust again. Please, use my shower if you wish. I can get you some clean clothes; in fact, I have an outfit in mind that will be just perfect for you, darling.”

***

By the time Raphael had scrubbed every last drop of blood off him, then washed himself again for good measure, gotten dressed in the admittedly beautiful outfit that Magnus had picked out for him – dark fitted pants and a embroidered shirt of deep emerald green – and stepped out of bathroom, the Shadowhunters had already descended on Magnus’ apartment.

He came across Simon and Clary sitting together on one of Magnus’ couches. They both looked grubby and battle-weary, and there was the pink line of a healing cut down Clary’s neck, but they otherwise seemed alright.

Simon looked up at him, and for the first time possibly ever, actually looked pleased to see him.

“Hey,” Simon greeted, “Magnus is in there with Alec, and Jace and Izzy. Sebastian was here, but he didn’t hang around long…”

Raphael had no idea who Sebastian was, and frankly didn’t care. He turned away and walked towards Magnus’ room.

Simon, who had still being rambling on, ended with a, “Right, ok, yes, you probably definitely don’t care about that. Never mind, you carry on.”

Raphael ignored him, and pushed the bedroom door open and arrived in the midst of Jace and Isabelle, flanking Alec on the bed at either side, berating him for going off to fight by himself without them, and also for worrying them. Magnus was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, not looking like he was disagreeing with them.

“I couldn’t help it, I got surrounded!” Alec was protesting. He looked much better already, if a little weary, the mottled bruising on his face fading rapidly.

“By the time I found him,” Raphael decided to input, and everyone turned to look at him. “He was all out of weapons, and had still beaten off at least five of Valentine’s projects by himself.” Raphael leant against the doorframe, arms crossed, a smirk on his lips. “I’ve got to say I’m impressed, Shadowhunter.”

There was a moment of silence, in which Raphael watched Jace grin proudly at his _parabatai_  and Izzy met Raphael’s gaze and smiled at him softly. Raphael forced his gaze away and back to Alec, who smiled at him tiredly.

“Thanks.”

“Do not mention it.”

“No I…” Alec started, glancing awkwardly at his sister before meeting Raphael’s eyes again more firmly, with the new confidence and solemnness of the Head of the New York Institute, “I mean _thank you_ , Raphael. For everything. Thank you for helping to save Max when Kaelie took him. Thank you for today, and all the other occasions in which you have helped the Institute.” He paused. “And I would like to apologise about my behaviour towards you these last few weeks.” He finished on a rush.

Magnus looked positively gleeful about the fact that his boyfriend and one of his Downworlder children were making amends. Izzy looked ashamed for being the reason that Raphael and Alec had been at odds in the first place, but Raphael hoped that she would not feel that shame for much longer. She was strong and she was beautiful, both inside and out, and he knew that she would get over this. Just as he had before, and would do again.

He had been faced with blood that night, and he had conquered the bloodlust.

He had helped to save Alec, and had finally earned his and Magnus’ forgiveness.

But it had not just been Raphael, apparently, who had wanted to apologise.

He nodded at Alec, acknowledging his thanks, and not wanting to say anymore for worry of making Izzy uncomfortable.

It did not matter anyway, as Magnus soon ushered them all back out of the room, demanding that Alec needed sleep.

Jace squeezed Alec's uninjured shoulder, before raising an eyebrow at Magnus, “Well what about you?” Jace countered, “I don’t see you moving.”

“I’m playing nursemaid,” Magnus argued, using perfectly manicured fingers to prod Jace towards the door, “I have to stay.”

Jace groaned, “Now all I can imagine is you in one of those Halloween ‘sexy’ nurses’ outfits.”

“I like where your mind is going Jace. Good idea.”

“Good grief. What have I done?” Jace bemoaned, getting a swat from Magnus for his trouble.

Raphael waited on the couch whilst the Shadowhunters and Simon said their goodbyes to Alec, with the promise from Magnus that they could return first thing in the morning. He was surprised when Jace came to him to thank him for helping Alec, and less surprised when Simon came up to him and told him that he hoped that their teamwork to help Alec meant that they were friends again. Raphael rolled his eyes and told him he would think about it, but not to hold out much hope. Izzy came to him too, squeezing his wrist briefly in thanks, and when Raphael smiled at her, she smiled back.

Finally the Shadowhunters and Simon went back to the Institute, and it was just Raphael, Magnus and a sleeping Alec left in the apartment.

“There is some blood bottled in the fridge,” Magnus offered, having apparently not even considered about kicking Raphael out like he had the Shadowhunters and Simon. “And I was right about that shirt, it suits you perfectly.”

Raphael grinned.


	4. Magnus has a good (if a little dysfunctional) family

Magnus drummed his nails on his dressing table and considered what colour to paint them.

Yellow gold to match the cat-eyes that his mother had so feared?

Silver, like the colour of the keris that she had killed herself with?

Red, like the blood on her nightgown when he had found her?

Dark blue, to match his sombre, sour mood? Lost in a swirl of unwanted memories.

Turquoise, something bright and cheerful in order to hide those feelings all away under the pretence that everything was fine?

His phone rang, vibrating across the table top, and, after a glance at the caller ID, he immediately swept it up.

“Alexander,” He greeted, relieved to hear Alec’s voice after a day without. A day without Alec’s voice pulling him from the memories that he had buried for so long, and that the torture endured within Valentine’s body had unearthed after centuries. He was grateful for the distraction. “How are you today?”

“I’m ok,” Alec dismissed quickly, and Magnus knew that tone. It was the tone that meant that Alec was not truly alright, because he knew that somebody he loved was not. And this time, as it had been for the last few weeks, the person Alec was worrying about was him. As much as Magnus had tried to hide the troubles he had been having, Alec just seemed to know when Magnus was faking. “Are you ok?”

“As well as ever, thank you Alexander,” Magnus smiled despite himself, leaning closer to the mirror to inspect the sleep deprived bags under his eyes with distaste. “I hope you have had a productive day?”

“I guess,” Alec responded vaguely. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

Magnus generally understood that to mean that Alec was about to be the bearer of bad news, and that the young man did not want to be.

“We have spent the day organising moving Valentine to Idris.” Alec revealed, finally.

The smile dropped from Magnus’ lips. “Oh,” He said. He supposed that that was good news, but ever since Azazel’s fun little body-swap, Magnus had not been able to help the anger and hurt and memories all bubbling to the surface again at the mere mention of Valentine’s name. “I hope the Clave are providing suitable reinforcements for you. I would hate to think of anything going wrong.” Magnus paused, realising how that had sounded. “I know that you are more than capable of handling this, Alec, I didn't meant that! I just want to make sure that…”

“He isn’t going to escape in transit, Magnus,” Alec interrupted, his voice soft, hopefully understanding that Magnus was only voicing concern, and not questioning the competence of the New York Institute under Alec’s leadership, in dealing with Valentine’s transferral. “I won’t allow that to happen.”

Whilst Alec’s perceptive reassurance was welcome, Magnus could not help but feel a sense of foreboding worry. If Valentine had escaped before, he could very well do it again.

Magnus pretended that he was unconcerned, “When is the move taking place?”

Alec did not sound like he believed him, by the way he said a hesitant, “Monday.”

“Ah.”

It was Saturday, which meant that Magnus would have to spend the next day and night fretting about the whole fiasco, until Valentine was far away and locked up as securely as he could be. It was not so much that Magnus was afraid of Valentine, Magnus was certain that he could thwart the man in combat without much issue, so long as Valentine had no angelic weapons at his disposal, and Magnus had access to his full magic and energy. Which was what had disconcerted him so about the body-swap incident; he had been helpless, whilst Valentine had been free and wearing his face, amongst his things in his apartment. It had been a living nightmare; Valentine in his home pretending to be him, and the torture from the Shadowhunters who had not believed him when he had tried to warn them.

Magnus believed that the fact that Valentine was still within Magnus’ city, always present in thought and conversation, not far away enough to forget, was what was keeping the nightmares and the bad memories so vivid in his mind. Maybe, when Valentine was far away, Magnus would be able to once again push those feelings far away too, but he would have to wait another day and night in their company in order to find out if he could or not. He did not really want to be alone. The last number of nights Alec had stayed over, which had helped Magnus keep his mind on his boyfriend, and away from everything else. But Alec would not be coming over that night as he was working the night shift at the Institute. And whilst Magnus would be alright for one night, he hoped very much that Alec would be able to visit the night before Valentine was transferred to Idris, because Magnus had a feeling that he would need some company, to keep himself present and sane, not lost in the past and haunted by things that he couldn’t change. He needed Alexander.

“Do you have any plans for tomorrow evening, Alexander?” Magnus asked, keeping his tone light.

There was a long pause, and Magnus’ heart sank before Alec even uttered the words; “I’m sorry Magnus, I’ll be at the Institute all night. It’s my night shift and with the move of Valentine…” he trailed off, “I don’t think I can.”

Magnus raised his eyes to his reflection, and was surprised to see the vulnerability in the eyes that stared back at him. After centuries of building walls around himself and his emotions and his memories, to see that those walls had crumbled to the point of near uselessness made him wonder whether he wanted to start building them back up, stronger than before, or to keep them down and allow himself to be more open. The former was a comforting tactic that he had adopted for centuries. The latter was a new and rather frightening concept.

“I see.” 

“I’m sorry, Magnus.” Alec sounded genuinely sorry; clearly knowing without seeing him that Magnus was upset.

“The Head of the Institute has responsibilities,” Magnus said, “I understand that.”

Alec made a noise of frustration and disagreement and confliction between duty and what he really wanted. It was a noise Magnus was familiar with by that point. “I should be there with you.”

“I am centuries old, darling, remember?” Magnus said, sounding far chirpier than he felt. He was upset, yes, but he did not want to upset Alec in the process, because the boy had done nothing wrong. Magnus just needed to retake control over his life and the centuries worth of turmoil raging in his head. “I know how to take care of myself.”

“Yes,” Alec's voice was firm, but also quietly sad, “But you shouldn’t have to.”

“Alexander,” Magnus soothed softly, feeling terrible for making Alec feel guilty when he did not deserve to. “It is fine. I promise.”

“I…” Alec stalled, like he did not know whether he should continue to say what he wanted to or not, unsure whether it would be well-received, “I love you.”

Magnus could not help a small smile, even if it did not reach the eyes of the reflection that stared back at him, pale and tired and hurting, “I love you too.”

They ended their call after their goodbyes, and Magnus let out a long, loud sigh.

He looked at his nails.

Turquoise it was.

***

Magnus spent the next day dressed to the nines with nowhere to go. He made himself a mojito, and danced idly around his lounge to songs of all types, from all eras. Eras that he had lived through. He made himself another drink.

He was not seeing any clients that day, he had cancelled two appointments. He had barely slept a couple of hours the night before, plagued by nightmares; how his father – not, as it had been revealed, his real father - had been cruel in his fear of him, how his mother had been so afraid and ashamed that she had killed herself. He had been so young, so confused, so afraid himself, but they had not loved him after his warlock mark had shown itself. Every time he had closed his eyes he had either seen their faces, their fearful faces, or he had re-experienced the pain that he had felt as he had been tortured, in Valentine’s body, by the Shadowhunters.

In the dark of his bedroom, frustrated and angry enough to draw tears, he had once again remembered those awful couple of days trapped in Valentine’s body, not all that long ago, and harshly questioned how even Alexander had not believed him. And every time he felt that slight twinge of hurt bitterness, he immediately quashed it, angry with himself. Alec had been brought up on horror stories of Valentine and the Circle, being told that Valentine was evil and a liar, something that Alec had then experienced first-hand. Alec had known about Valentine’s cruelty towards Jace, and it had been Valentine’s fault that that demon had made it into the Institute, possessed Alec, and ultimately had him kill Jocelyn. Of course Alec had been suspicious when Valentine had suddenly started begging him, the Shadowhunter clearly presuming that Valentine was trying a different tactic in order to trick him, using Magnus against him. Even so, it had hurt so much, seeing the rejection, the disbelief in Alec’s eyes, the soldier-like side of Alec that Magnus had never really witnessed. But what hurt more was the way that Alec was so guiltily desperate to try and fix it, like it had been all his fault. It had not been Alec’s fault. It had been Azazel’s fault. It had been Valentine’s fault.

Magnus could not wait for Valentine to be shipped off to Idris. He just had to wait out this awful day, before finding out the next whether the Clave’s transporting had been successful or not.

Magnus poured himself another drink.

He took the Omamori that Alec had gifted to him and held it to his lips. He took a breath. He wished Alec was with him.

He finished his drink.

And so the day went on.

***

At 5pm Magnus was sprawled out on his couch, cocktail glass abandoned, staring at the ceiling. He was not sure how long he had been there for, but he was fairly sure that this would be where he stayed for the rest of the night.

He had considered going to check in on _Pandemonium,_ to have a dance and more drinks and try to forget. But he didn’t want to go out.

He would maybe have wanted to go to _Pandemonium_ if Alec were with him. Whilst he had previously convinced Alec to go for drinks there with him, when he was encouraging Alec, Raphael and Simon to all get along, Magnus had not yet convinced Alec to go there to dance with him. Alec had said that he was not the dancing type. Magnus reckoned he was, and that he had just never tried it. One day, Magnus decided, one day he would get Alec to go with him. Just the thought of that kept Magnus occupied for another half an hour.

And then there was a knock on the door.

“Oh honestly,” Magnus grumbled, “This had better be someone I like or I am going to turn them into a very unattractive rodent.”

He rolled to his feet, and strode towards the door. There was a niggling voice in his mind that worried that the person on the other side of the door might not be a friend; a last farewell from Valentine, but Magnus refused to be intimidated inside his own home. It was not his style. So he ignored the voice, and swung the door open. Perhaps a little too vigorously, but still, he was displaying fearlessness, and fearlessness required such vigour.

Alec was standing on the other side, his eyes wide at Magnus’ forceful opening of the door.

“Magnus?” He asked, “Are you ok?”

Magnus blinked, before smiling brightly. “Alexander!” He said, delighted to see him, “It is wonderful to see you! But…” He frowned, sobering up a fraction, “But you said that you were on duty at the Institute tonight? What are you doing here? Is it something I can help with?”

“No, Magnus, I’m not here for your help,” Alec said, with a nervous smile, and whilst Magnus had no idea why Alec was still producing such nervous gestures, he had to admit that he still found them endearing. “I’m here to see you.” Alec raised his chin, defiant now. “I was supposed to be at the Institute, and I have been all day, because you are right, being the Head of the Institute comes with responsibilities, but it also comes with the authority to take a night off. So I have done. And, if you would like to, I am going to take you out for dinner.”

After his melancholy day, the drink and the gloominess, the nightmares and memories that still hung on, Magnus felt it all melt away in the face of Alec’s pure and honest goodness. There was no room for wallowing in darkness, not when Alec was the light. The light of an angel. A descendant of it. Magnus had meant what he had said to Dot, when he had said that he fell in love with the soul, and only ever one soul at a time, and Alec’s soul, Alec’s soul was pure and earnest and so very easy to love.

Magnus was almost overwhelmed with it for a moment, that somebody truly cared about him as much as Alec did, before he smiled, feeling happy for the first time that day.

“I would love to, Alexander,” Magnus replied, not bothering to hide the soft gratefulness in his voice.

Alec smiled in return, bright and beautiful; a smile Alec rarely gifted to any but Magnus and his family.

“I booked the table for six thirty. I thought it would give you enough time to get ready?”

“Of course,” Magnus flapped his hands around, “I must look a state.”

“You look beautiful,” Alec said, smile smaller and fond.

Flattered, Magnus rolled his eyes, “You are far too kind to me, darling.” Magnus only then took in what Alec was wearing, and was appalled with himself for not noticing before. Alec was wearing tight black jeans and a blue-grey shirt that had Magnus’ eyes catching. “You are branching out from black, again, Alexander.” Magnus pressed up against him, hands bracketing Alec’s arms to draw him down into a kiss. “It suits you very well,” Magnus breathed against his lips. “You look wonderful.”

Alec blushed a lot less around him now, but one broke out at the compliment. “It’s not too far off black.”

“Yes, well, give it time, darling,” Magnus stated, strolling backwards to allow Alec room to properly enter the apartment. “I will get to dress you one day yet.”

“Maybe,” Alec allowed, clasping his hands behind his back and stepping through the door.

Magnus blinked. It was the closest Alec had ever gotten to agreeing. “I will hold you to that. I would dress you in such fineries.”

“Soon, maybe,” Alec promised with a smile that bordered on a smirk, and it was terribly attractive, “But right now I need _you_ dressed in _your_ fineries.”

Magnus once again cast his gaze over Alec’s choice of dress. “A smart venue?”

“We have eaten there before. Smart for me, I would say smart-casual for you.”

Magnus grinned, “Understood. You know me too well.”

But that was the problem, Magnus supposed, as he swept off to peruse his wardrobe, considering whether or not to magic up something completely new. Alec did know Magnus in moods and character and dress, he knew him in love. But he did not know everything about Magnus. Magnus had centuries worth of secrets and hidden memories. One day he hoped he would be able to share them all with Alec. But if he could not even summon the bravery to tell Alec about his currently very-present past, then how was he going to tell him everything else?

Magnus pushed his concerns aside for the time being, still delighted that Alec had chosen to be with him rather than spending the night at the Institute. Alec had done this kind thing for Magnus because he knew that Magnus was hurting, and Magnus would be damned if he wasn’t going to have a great night. If there was any chance of forgetting his woes for a night, this was it.

He chose an outfit of dark pants, and shirt, to match Alec’s, with a black and silver patterned jacket. He changed his nail varnish to black, like the colour of Alec’s hair, and his own, and his mother’s, and it was a positive feeling that accompanied it, and it gave Magnus an optimistic hope that he had been lacking the last few days.

Alec was positively chivalrous all night; soft voiced in conversation and attentive. He took Magnus to one of the first restaurants they had ever gone to on a date, one that Magnus had claimed made the best noodles outside of Asia.

“Thank you for this,” Magnus told him over their drinks, their meals finished. “I needed a night away from it all, and I really do appreciate…”

Alec shook his head, “You should not have to thank me for being a good boyfriend, Magnus. I am just sorry it took me so long to sort my priorities. I am sorry for everything.”

Alec meant more than just the last few days. He also meant Valentine, not believing Magnus, allowing the Clave to torture and nearly execute him.

Magnus reached across the table to take Alec’s hand, “That is not your fault, Alec.”

“But because of it, you have been hurting,” Alec countered, voice small and sad, his thumb sweeping over Magnus’ knuckles, “What the Clave did to you, the memories that they surfaced, they have been burdening you.”

“I have dealt with them all before, Alexander, and I will do it again.”

“But you shouldn’t have to,” Alec argued, just as he had on the phone the night before. “Or at least you should not have to face it on your own. I know you might not want to tell me, and that’s ok, I just want you to know that I am here for you, if you ever need to talk about anything.”

“There are some things I have done that would shock you,” Magnus could not help but warn.

“But those things have shaped you into the man I know today,” Alec said, meeting Magnus’ eyes and holding his gaze. Alec had such beautiful brown eyes. “And I would never judge you for those things.”

Magnus felt overwhelming love for the young man sitting before him hit him all over again, like a cool, pleasant wave. He smiled gratefully and squeezed Alec’s hand a little tighter. He believed Alec , and all of a sudden, realised that maybe, maybe he could tell Alec a little more about himself, allow himself to open up to someone after so long, someone that he trusted and loved, and maybe by sharing those memories, it would help him forget or come to terms with them all over again.

“I will tell you,” he decided, “I will. Soon. Just, not tonight.”

Alec nodded, “Whenever you are ready to talk, you know where I am.”

Magnus lifted Alec’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it, and where Alec would have dropped his gaze shyly mere weeks ago, he instead kept Magnus’ gaze, and smiled just for him, and Magnus loved him for it.

***

They walked home hand in hand, keeping conversation light, but subtly so, until they reached Magnus’ apartment door. Magnus frowned. He could hear music coming from inside. Suspicious, because did not think he had left his music on earlier, and knowing that the only possible visitor he could have had other than Alec was Raphael - who had been visiting more frequently after learning about Magnus’ ordeal with Valentine and Azazel like a worried mother hen – did not help, because Raphael was not the type to saunter into someone else’s house and turn their music on.

It gave him a moment of momentary panic, imagining what could be behind his door; an enemy, Valentine escaped, someone from a past he was trying to avoid at present…until he swung the door open to find Raphael, Simon and Jace sitting in his lounge.

“Oh,” Magnus masked his surprise by strolling the rest of the way into the room, eyebrow raised, Alec at his heels, “Hello.”

Simon and Raphael were sitting on opposite ends of one couch, whilst Jace was sitting on another, away from the vampires, his feet up on the coffee table; it had been Jace's favourite spot when he had lived temporarily with Magnus. The space that Jace was keeping between himself and the others wasn’t because Jace did not trust or like the vampires, Magnus knew, it was more likely because of Raphael’s strange relationship with Izzy, and because of the awkward situation that had presented itself during Jace, Clary and Simon’s visit to the Seelie Queen, which Magnus had heard about via Alec via Jace. He was honestly surprised that the three were sitting harmoniously in the same room, let alone anything else.

They all turned towards the door when Magnus and Alec entered.

“Hey Magnus!” Jace smiled, breaking the descended silence. “Alec,” he added, looking relieved at his _parabatai’s_ arrival.

“Hi guys,” Simon added, whilst Raphael nodded at them in greeting.

“What are you all doing here?” Magnus asked, taking off his coat, and smiling when Alec took it from him to hang up, before Magnus could use his magic to do it for him.

“Well, it was Alec’s idea…” Simon started.

“Oh?” Magnus turned to look at Alec questioningly.

“I invited them,” Alec clarified, “I hope that’s alright.”

Magnus knew why Alec had invited the boys round; to continue to keep him feeling surrounded by those he cared about, to distract him from sinking too deep into his thoughts, and it was very sweet, and he was very grateful.

“And what is the occasion?” He feigned ignorance.

“Lads night in,” Jace said, looking pleased with himself. “It’s quite exciting; our first lads night in with more than just the two of us, isn’t it, Alec?”

“Oh the mental images you have just provided me,” Magnus winked.

Alec elbowed Magnus playfully, whilst Jace slapped a hand over his eyes and groaned, “Not like that, for Angel’s sake.”

“We are here to chill out and play video games,” Simon informed Magnus, raising a fanned selection of game cases in his hand proudly.

Magnus looked at Raphael in surprise, and Raphael gave a minute shrug of his shoulders, his lips quirking.

“Well in that case,” Magnus said, pleased to see them here, and getting along. He found himself more than ready to take the evening in his stride, “Who’s for drinks?”

Alec joined Magnus at his drinks bar whilst Simon set up his games console and connected it to Magnus’ television.

“I thought you would like to see Simon and Raphael,” Alec said quietly. He was correct in that. Raphael was very dear to Magnus, like a son to him, and Simon was another Downworlder that Magnus had taken under his wing and looked out for. “And Clary and Izzy are having a girls night, and Clary isn’t talking to Jace anyway, and I didn’t want him to be alone, and I knew he would like to see you so…”

“Alec,” Magnus interrupted him, placing his hand on Alec’s arm reassuringly, “This is a lovely idea, thank you.” He turned to look at the Shadowhunter and the Vampires bickering over which game to play. He doubted Raphael or Jace had ever played such games before, but they both seemed to be highly opinionated over their preferences, which was unsurprising. “I am surprised you managed to get Simon and Jace in the same room after what happened in the Seelie Court.”

“Simon's still upset and angry with Clary and Jace. I know Jace feels guilty about it, because he counts Simon as a friend, as much as he pretends he doesn’t. Simon is still hurt by it all, but he said that he would put it aside for a night.”

“For me, you mean?” Magnus asked.

Alec glanced at him, “Yes. For you. They are here for you.”

Magnus could not help but smile, still rather unused to people doing things for him without wanting or expecting anything in return; because they wanted to do something nice for him.

Magnus poured some blood cocktails for Raphael and Simon, and clicked his fingers, the glasses disappearing from the bar and appearing on the coffee table in front of the Vampires. Magnus swept up his own drink, and clinked it against one of the ones Alec was holding in his hand, the other meant for Jace.

“Now, Alexander, how are you at video games?”

“I have never played one.”

“I thought as much.”

“Have you?”

“From time to time I have indulged.”

Alec groaned, possibly thinking back to the time Magnus had tricked him and beaten him expertly at pool. “You are really good aren’t you?” He lamented, “I bet you’re really good at them.”

Magnus grinned slyly, “Just you wait and see.”

Magnus, as he went on to show the boys, was very good at video games, controlling with ease, his precision perfect, lounging half against the couch and half against Alec in a show of near-effortlessness that was only half-true (it required a lot of concentration), earning cheers from Simon and impressed comments from Jace.

Simon was the most practiced of them all, so was also excellent, with a crafted expertise and knowledge of levels and bonus items. He was also an excitable observer, throwing out advice, his legs enthusiastically tucked up underneath him on the couch.

Jace, a novice as Magnus suspected, picked it up immediately, tongue poking out between his teeth and feet planted on the floor in concentration, he grinned every time he saw his point score rack up.

“Ugh,” Simon bemoaned, a little bitterly, “I should have known you would be good at everything.”

Magnus saw Jace’s shoulders tighten slightly, and he spared Simon a glance full of expression, “Not everything,” Jace corrected solemnly, before returning to the game. It left Simon blinking at him in surprise.

Alec, it turned out, did not pick up gaming anywhere near as quickly as Jace. In fact, he was rather appalling. Jace laughed out loud when Alec’s avatar accidentally friendly-fired on his own teammate.

“Good job you are a better shot in real life, eh?” He laughed, nudging Alec affectionately.

Alec grumbled and continued to attempt to get his character to climb a ladder, with poor results.

“I don’t see why I have to make this little man fight,” Alec complained, stabbing at the buttons on the control, his character flailing about on the screen, “When I fight demons on a daily basis, and do that just fine.”

Jace patted him on the shoulder supportively, “You are much, much better at fighting in real life, thank the Angel. And that’s what matters.”

Alec rolled his eyes with force and gave up shortly afterwards. Magnus immediately wrapped his arms around him to cheer him up and pressed a kiss to his hair.

Raphael turned out to be the biggest surprise. He was also remarkably good for a beginner, with quick reactions, a serious concentration-face and a self-satisfied grin every now and again, which had Simon staring at him, not that Raphael seemed to notice. Raphael ended up with an impressive final score, and the biggest opponent death-count.

“Why does that not surprise me,” Simon commented playfully.

Raphael just grinned at him smugly, his fangs on show.

Magnus chuckled into his cocktail.

The game ended, but the drinks continued.

Unfortunately, but inevitably, the rift between Simon and Jace bubbled finally to the surface, fuelled by alcohol and tension.

“I understand why you are upset,” Jace was saying, as Simon stared at him with a hurt sort of anger, “But she didn’t choose me, did she? She told me it meant nothing, and has acted since like it was nothing. Just like I knew she would. It’s you she has been asking for forgiveness from all week, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, whilst trying to explain why she kissed you and not me. Why she most desires a kiss from you rather than me.”

Magnus, Alec and Raphael’s gazes switched from one to the other and back again, like the wary observers of a tennis match.

“It’s because…” Jace waved his arm around, at a loss, “It’s because I was a forbidden thing, alright? We liked each other, then we thought we were siblings. I was a kiss she couldn’t have anymore. Then she started seeing you and forgot all about me. All that was in the Seelie Court was the Seelie Queen playing on that old forbidden desire, that Clary doesn't really feel or even acknowledge anymore. She kissed you first, didn’t she? She told me it meant nothing that she kissed me.”

“Are you listening to yourself? Do you hear what you’re saying?” Simon countered sadly, “She wants to kiss you and she feels guilty for it. That’s why she kissed me first, even though she knew in her heart that it was going to be you.”

“I don’t think she did at all. And that doesn’t matter, because she still wants to be with you. She still chooses you, Simon, I don’t know what else to say!”

“But it still hurts,” Simon argued, “Imagine if it was different! Imagine if…” Simon floundered, looking around the room for inspiration, “Alright, imagine if you were dating Raphael…”

Magnus looked from Jace’s bemused face to Raphael’s bewildered expression.

“And Raphael was given the choice between you and me by the Seelie Queen,” Simon continued, “And Raphael kissed me instead of you. How would you feel?”

Jace shared a confused glance with Raphael. “I would feel just fine because Raphael and I aren’t dating, and he clearly likes you more than me.”

Raphael blinked. “I have no part in this. And I would ask you not to include me at all in any of your little love triangles.”

“Ok,” Simon stalled, “Maybe not the best example. Ok, take Alec. Your _parabatai ,_ your platonic soul mate, or whatever he is. What if he had to pick between you and Magnus, and he picked Magnus. How would you feel?”

Jace frowned, Simon continued to look upset, Alec appeared uncomfortable at being the new target of the scenario. The room quietened.

Jace opened his mouth to reply, closed it again.

“Anyone for more drinks?” Magnus offered, taking any attempt to break the tension.

Jace’s eyes shifted towards the bar, before they landed on something behind it.

“Magnus!” He said, distracted but delighted, “You have a piano?”

“Yes,” Magnus frowned.

“You didn’t have one whilst I was staying with you.”

“Different décor,” Magnus explained idly.

“Can I play?” Jace asked.

Magnus blinked in surprise, looking to Alec who was watching Jace curiously too.

“Of course,” Magnus allowed.

Jace made a hasty retreat. If it was in an attempt to get away from Simon, it did not work, as the Vampire got up and followed him asking, “You play?”

Magnus looked at Alec for answers.

Alec shrugged, “Jace doesn’t often play in front of people. I think the alcohol has gotten to him a bit.”

“And Simon too probably,” Raphael added, from Magnus’ other side. “He can really grate the nerves.”

“Be nice, Raphael,” Magnus scolded softly, "I know you like him really.”

“He grows on you,” Raphael allowed, his gaze following Simon across the room towards the piano.

Magnus rolled his eyes and snuggled up against Alec, the young Shadowhunter playing idly with Magnus’ spiked hair.

It turned out that Jace was an excellent pianist. And he even moved aside to let Simon join in, sliding onto the piano bench beside him.

It was a lovely piece that the pair of them began to improvise, amongst some bickering, and Magnus closed his eyes, listening to the music Jace and Simon were creating, with Alec sitting to one side of him, and Raphael on the other. He felt content, and safe, and he realised that he had not sunken into the dark depths of his mind all evening.

Alec’s plan to keep him occupied and happy had worked wonders. He turned his head to press a fond kiss to Alec’s jaw, and felt Alec’s lips form into a smile against his temple.

By the time Jace, Simon and Raphael prepared to leave the apartment and return to their respective homes, Simon and Jace were on fairly good terms again. Simon asked Jace if he wanted to join Simon’s band. Jace said no. Simon asked if Jace would want to jam with him some time, just the two of them. Jace looked surprised and said that he would think about it. Simon said he would get Jace playing a gig in the _Hunter’s Moon_ with him yet, and that all of them should come to Simon’s next gig there, as only Raphael had attended his first one. Raphael informed the others that Simon was ‘quite good’, and Simon had beamed like Raphael had bestowed the worlds’ kindest compliment. Though, to be fair, coming from Raphael, it _was_ fairly high praise.

The boys seemed to leave the apartment in high spirits - even Raphael was smiling - which in turn made Magnus feel happier than he had in weeks.

“I think the night turned into solving their problems more than anything else,” Alec commented once they were alone, tidying up the drinking glasses that were scattered around the room.

“You know how I like playing problem solver,” Magnus shrugged, “I didn’t mind in the slightest. It kept me distracted.” He moved to Alec and stalled Alec’s hand. Alec put the glass he was holding back down on the table. “Thank you for tonight," Magnus said, "I enjoyed it very much. You are an angel.”

“Yes, actually,” Alec teased softly, “Well, descended from the blood of one, anyway.”

Magnus laughed and kissed his boyfriend soundly on the lips, hoping to convey all the emotions he felt at that moment, and all the love that he had for that good, honest soul.

“Leave the glasses,” Magnus said, “Come to bed?”

Alec smiled, and allowed Magnus to lead him to the bedroom by the hand.

Magnus did not care if the nightmares came to bother him that night. He knew he had the strength to fight them away. Because with a Downworld and Shadowhunter family like his, and with Alec at his side, he knew he could face just about anything; whether it be from his future, his present or, most importantly, from his past.


	5. Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane: Power Couple

“Where the angel is Alec when you need him?” Jace asked irritably.

Izzy wasn’t quite sure what Jace had to be irritable about. Sebastian and Valentine were gone, Jace and Clary had survived their confrontation with Valentine, stopped him from summoning the angel Raziel and destroying all those with demon blood. Jace and Clary had learned that they were not actually siblings and since Clary and Simon had decided to amicably break up, Jace and Clary were finally able to be together. Jace had every reason to be happy, but there was still something amiss. He seemed unwilling to be apart from Alec for long after whatever had happened in Idris, always finding excuses to see Alec when he wasn’t with Clary or Alec wasn’t with Magnus. Because Alec had believed his _parabatai_ to be dead when their rune had vanished from his skin, Alec had either not noticed or was happy with Jace’s more constant presence. But Izzy had noticed, as she had also noticed how Jace would sometimes abruptly disappear from the room at random, but would return claiming to be fine, looking at everybody like they were being weird and smothering for asking him. But he _was_ irritable about _something_.

And it wasn’t just about the horde of demons they were fighting.

“He is having a well-deserved night off,” Izzy said. “And it isn’t like we can’t handle this ourselves.” She brought a demon down with a snap of her whip so that Clary could finish it off, which helpfully proved her point.

Unhelpfully, a drainage grate crashed up into the air as more demons began crawling their way up and out into the night.

“You were saying?” Jace griped, flipping his blade in his hand as he prepared for the newest onslaught.

Where they had been manageably outnumbered earlier, now they were outnumbered to the point where trying to face them alone would be arrogantly foolish. Izzy had to admit defeat on this one.

“Clary, call the Institute, we’ll cover you,” Izzy ordered, preparing herself for another fight.

Izzy and Jace took the brunt of the first demons as Clary moved away to make the call, but the numbers of demons forced her to take up her blade again. Izzy saw it out of the corner of her eye and cursed quietly to herself, edging closer to Clary to attempt to keep the demons at bay and give Clary enough time to contact the Institute. Hopefully the Institute would pick up on the sudden higher levels of demon activity and come to their aid of their own accord.

“Shit!” Jace yelped suddenly. Izzy turned to see him doubled over for a moment, clutching his arm, which had surely been slashed by a claw.

It was so unusual for a demon to get the better of Jace, particularly since he had begun harnessing his angelic powers, that Izzy stalled in surprise. Clary was shouting to him in concern, but Jace gritted his teeth and continued fighting, yelling out angrily.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, a portal opening in the centre of the fight and two figures came striding through it, dark haired, tall and lithe; one with two balls of blazing blue light in his palms, the other knocking an arrow in his bow.

They came in like a beautiful storm, Magnus and her brother, powerful, dark and intimidating as they joined the fight, arrows and magic flying in every direction. With the added help of the Head of the New York Institute and the High Warlock of Brooklyn, the group made short work of the new wave of demons. 

The moment that the threat was cleared, Alec was rushing to Jace, like a black and silver…Izzy paused. Silver? She blinked and inspected her brother more closely, mouth gaping in surprise. Alec, the man who favoured blacks, browns, greys, faded and dark colours, was wearing silver. And it wasn’t just the colour choice that was different.

Alec was dressed in a richly decorated silver and black vest, under a black, silver lined leather jacket and snugly fitting dark jeans. He had silver rings on his fingers and silver chains around his neck. His eyes were lined with dark kohl, silver glitter glinting around the lids and on his lips. He looked ornate, almost otherworldly in his beauty. Izzy knew her brother was handsome, of course she did, especially when he smiled, but she had never seen him look quite like this.

Alec had reached Jace and took his arm, inspecting it closely with silver lids lowered and he was so busy checking Jace’s arm that he did not notice Jace staring at him like he had grown a second head.

“What happened?” Alec asked sharply, but not like he was surprised. Maybe Alec had noticed more of Jace’s strange behaviour than Izzy had first thought.

“I thought you were having a night off,” Jace said instead of replying, with heavy implication, still staring at Alec’s face, because Alec had _clearly_ been having a night off.

Alec did not seem to notice.

“I felt you get injured,” he mumbled distractedly, activating Jace’s healing rune for him with his stele.

“Uh-huh,” Jace said, barely wincing as the wound slowly began to heal itself. “And where were you when you felt it?”

“What?” Alec frowned at his tone and finally glanced up at Jace, who was gawking at him, and then to Clary, who was peering over Jace’s shoulder at him. His face then cleared in sudden realisation. “Oh. Oh…” He automatically, and self-consciously, reached up to rub at one of his eyes with the back of his hand.

Before he could do so, Magnus swept forward and caught his wrist, tutting at him, “Don’t do that, darling, you will smudge it, and it does look so good on you.”

Alec cleared his throat, his face reddening a little, but he was smiling that small pleased smile that was so rare to see, and he obediently lowered his hand as Magnus guided it down.

The obvious culprit to Alec’s glamorous appearance was also dressed in his usual finery, but where Alec was dressed in silver and black, Magnus was in black and gold, his jacket paisley gold, his gaping shirt the colour of midnight, his hair golden tipped.

“I lost a bet over a game of pool,” Alec explained awkwardly, shifting under everybody’s attention.

Clary raised her eyebrow at Magnus, “And the winner wanted to dress you?”

“Dress him, wine and dine him, take him dancing…” Magnus listed off, counting on his elegant, long fingers.

“Huh,” Jace said, “If that’s what _losing_ a bet against you entails, Magnus, remind me to make more bets with you.”

Izzy grinned as Alec looked taken aback at Jace’s genuine enthusiasm.

Magnus winked at Jace. "If I had known that, Jace, you and I could have had so much more fun when you were staying with me."

Jace snorted and rolled his eyes. 

“I have been trying to dress Alec for years,” Izzy said, “I am actually jealous that you got to first.” She strolled to her brother, squeezing his wrist. “You look gorgeous, Alec.”

“He does,” Magnus agreed. He was looking at Alec like he had never seen anyone more beautiful, in all his centuries of life. He often looked at Alec that way, even more so now that he and Alec had made amends following their brief separation. That made Izzy a little jealous sometimes, too, wishing that she could find someone who looked at her like Magnus looked at Alec, but not as much as it filled her with happiness for her brother, who was finally being loved as he deserved.

“And you got him to dance,” Jace inputted, “That, frankly, is a miracle.”

“Oh yes,” Magnus said, his eyes alight, and Izzy would have paid good money to have seen her brother actually _dance_ in a nightclub. It was something she had never been able to persuade him to do. From the look on Magnus’ face, Alec must actually be _good_ at it too. “We were at _Pandemonium_.” Magnus checked his watch. “Speaking of which, shall we get back, Alec? Raphael and Simon will be wondering where we are.”

“Raphael and Simon are there?” Clary asked in surprise.

Magnus grinned. “There and dressed to impress. It wasn’t just Alec who lost a bet.”

Clary laughed and Izzy tried not to imagine Raphael dressed like Alec, eyes lined, dark hair styled to perfection, his expensive clothes dark and blood red. She tried not to imagine Simon looking just the same. She felt envious of Alec’s night off and wished she could go back to the club with Magnus and Alec.

“I imagine Simon did not mind losing that bet in the slightest,” Jace commented.

The quirking smirk of Alec’s lips confirmed it.

“Magnus,” Izzy said, taking hold of Magnus’ sleeve, “You must let us join you next time.”

Magnus smiled at her, sly and knowing. “Of course, darling.” He turned to Alec, “Shall we be getting back, Alexander?”

Alec turned to check on each of them in turn, before his silver-and-kohl eyes scanned the area, as though half-expecting more demons to emerge. 

“Go!” Izzy gave him a push, “We are fine. We’ll finish up here and report back to the Institute. Go and enjoy your night.”

Alec smiled then; a big, bright charming smile and Izzy did not think she had ever seen her brother look more radiant as he did right at that moment.

“Ok,” he allowed. He took Magnus’ hand and in a flurry of blue portal, they were gone.

The dark street seemed much darker with them gone, leaving Izzy, Clary and Jace standing alone on the sidewalk, demons gone, and the silver and gold power couple disappeared into the night.

“Did that really just happen?” Jace asked. “Or did that demon have some kind of hallucinogenic poison in its claws?”

“It really happened,” Clary said, grinning as Jace reached out with his now-healed arm to take her hand. 

“Alec _dancing_?” Jace asked.

“Alec dancing,” Izzy said.

Alec dancing, Alec surrounded by magic, Alec in love.

It was a good look on him.

***

The club was exactly as they had left it; bright flashing lights, bodies moving, music that Alec had never heard before. Alec did not know the song, but he didn’t think it mattered. Not when it made Magnus move like that.

Magnus was already dancing, body rolling with the beat, a naturally talented and mesmerising dancer. The gold in his clothes and the glitter at his eyes picked up the light, making him look as magical as the power he could conjure from his fingertips. Alec was transfixed.

Magnus smiled, slow and smooth. He pressed himself up to Alec’s front.

“Shall we pick up where we left off?” Magnus asked.

Alec would never say no to that.

***

Magnus had assumed that Alexander did not dance because he wasn’t very good, not that that would have mattered to Magnus in the slightest.

But he had been very, _very_ pleasantly surprised at the discovery that his Shadowhunter was not just able to dance, but he could do it well. He had natural rhythm and was a quick learner and it only took a little observation from him to mirror moves with ease.

Magnus was, quite frankly, delighted.

They danced pressed together, moving slow and Magnus was thrilled by how Alec’s confidence seemed to be boosted, particularly since having had such a positive reaction from Izzy, Jace and Clary.

Magnus knew that many eyes were trained on them, focused on Alec, with his dark runes against his white skin, the silver in his outfit. A Shadowhunter at the club was not the most common sight and the Downworlders around them seemed to spot him easily. He looked beautiful and he did not seem to even notice it. He did not notice the attention of the dancers around him. Alexander’s dark eyes were fixed on Magnus in a way that was flattering and warming in equal measure.

Magnus spotted Raphael and Simon standing near the bar, talking to each other over glasses of blood, looking every inch the dark and brooding vampire stereotype; they had been Magnus’ to style for the night and Magnus had done as he pleased. Simon had loved it, Raphael had complained but ultimately accepted his fate. 

Magnus pulled Alec a little closer. Yes, Alec did look beautiful with Magnus' styling, but he was always beautiful. This was a rare occasion to dress him up, take him a little out of his comfort zone, give him something a little different. Alec seemed to be enjoying it, just as Magnus would enjoy seeing him return to his Shadowhunter gear, soft jumpers and glitter-free skin the next day. Though, saying that, Alec often ended up with a little glitter on his skin after spending a night with Magnus anyway. 

Alec’s hand slid into the open front of Magnus’ shirt, settling on his bare waist. Magnus grinned, pushing his own hand up into Alec’s hair, seeing Alec smile in response, a secret, happy smile that was just for him.

Magnus had not danced the night away in a very long time, but with Alec dancing with him, sparkling in the lights, he could dance until the dawn. 


	6. In which it is a good idea to never threaten Magnus Bane's family

Simon’s hand had scarcely lifted from the wood of the door after his first knock when it swung open.

Simon stared at Magnus and Magnus stared at Simon.

Before Simon could say ‘ _You have no idea how glad I am to see you,’_ Magnus had beaten him to it.

“Have you seen Raphael today?” Magnus asked abruptly. “Or Alec?”

Simon blinked. “I was just going to ask you the same thing, but,” he paused, “About Clary.”

Magnus frowned, looking even more concerned than he had a moment before. “Clary?”

Magnus stepped back to allow Simon into his apartment. Simon noticed that Magnus had his phone clutched in his hand, similarly to how Simon had a hold of his own.

“I have been trying to get hold of Clary all day,” Simon said. “She isn’t answering my calls and that shouldn’t be weird because, you know, she spends a lot of time with Jace these days, and not that I mind of course because, well, me and Maia are spending a lot more time together too. But Clary and I still meet up and confide in each other and us spending a little less time together isn’t about the break up thing as we have decided to sweep all that under the carpet. Not that we are pretending it didn’t happen but…”

“Simon,” Magnus interrupted, stalling Simon’s nervous babbling by raising a ringed, varnish-nailed hand.

“Sorry,” Simon apologised. “It’s just…well I wasn’t concerned about Clary not answering, because of her spending more time with Jace recently. But then Luke called me.”

“What did Luke say?”

“Apparently him and Clary had a breakfast date planned. Since Jocelyn…” Simon paused. Jocelyn’s death still hurt him badly, a twisting hand clutching his heart. He had felt the same after his dad, and although he knew that that pain would never truly go away, he knew that that clutching hand would lessen its grip a little, over time. “Luke and Clary have been meeting once a week for breakfast, just the two of them, to check in on each other, catch up on each other’s news without other people or any demon or Downworlder drama. She didn’t turn up this morning to meet and that is not like her, Magnus. It’s not like her at all to miss a promised meet like that and she would never stand up Luke without an explanation, not even for Jace. Luke hasn’t heard from her all day and neither have I. I went to the Institute to ask Izzy or Alec if they had seen her but the Shadowhunters wouldn’t let me in. They said Alec and Izzy weren’t there. And they said that Clary and Jace weren’t there.”

Magnus’ lips thinned, “Did they tell you where they were?”

Simon shook his head. “Said something about Alec sending a message about them being on a mission but I still don’t like it. Clary would have called or messaged Luke if she was going to miss their breakfast. She wouldn’t forget.” Simon looked up in puzzlement as he realised something. “But you said it’s not just the Shadowhunters. You asked me if I’ve seen Raphael today?”

Magnus was watching him with poorly veiled concern. “Well have you? Heard from him or seen him?”

Simon shook his head. He had been at the boathouse and the Jade Wolf the last couple of nights and had been trying to track down Clary for the better part of the day.

Magnus whirled around and stalked further into his apartment. “I have tried calling him. I even stopped by the _Dumort_ and they said they haven’t seen him for two days. Two days!” He threw his hands up. “And Alec had said he was going to be busy with meetings yesterday. I heard from him yesterday morning, saying not to expect him last night and that he would see me today. I didn’t hear from him this morning and he isn’t answering his phone. I would understand the Shadowhunters being on a mission and that would make sense, but not with Raphael gone too.”  

“What are you saying, Magnus?” Simon asked, worrying at the phone in his hand, wishing that Clary or Izzy or even Jace would just _call him._

“I don’t trust them all disappearing without a word,” Magnus said, “I was considering tracking Alec and Raphael before you arrived, but I didn’t know if I was being paranoid. I am the first to admit that I have been a little paranoid since Valentine.” Magnus stopped and seemed to shake himself, but Simon knew Magnus was still unnerved by the time Valentine had possessed his body. “But now you have said the same of Clary and possibly the others too, I think I was right to try tracking them.”

Simon scrubbed a hand through his hair and was about to agree, when a knock on the door had him leaping out of his skin.

“I’m a vampire,” he gasped, “A vampire. I shouldn’t be freaked out by a…” He stopped. “Wait, did they just knock once? Who just knocks once…”

Magnus held a finger to his lips, before sweeping on silent feet to the door. With a flick of his fingers he opened a small portal in the wood of the door, allowing them to see into the hallway beyond.

There was no-one there.

“Magnus,” Simon whispered, but Magnus held up another silencing finger.

Magnus cast his hands across the door frame and for a fraction of a moment Simon saw the flicker of the wards that surrounded Magnus’ apartment before they were gone. Apparently satisfied, Magnus opened the door.

Simon frowned at the empty space on the other side and walked past Magnus into the hallway. His keen vampire eyes quickly spotted the only anomaly in the otherwise deserted space. He bent down to pick up the flower that lay on the floor, just to the side of Magnus’ doorway.

“Magnus?” Simon asked, confused, holding up the flower; a rose with black petals, ominous in its dark beauty. “Does this mean anything to you?”

If Magnus could ever look truly pale and flustered, this was the closest Simon had ever seen him.

“It’s impossible,” Magnus murmured. Simon would have said that it looked like Magnus had seen a ghost, in the way he was staring at the flower, but Simon assumed Magnus had seen creatures far more bizarre than ghosts in his many centuries of life.

“What’s impossible?” Simon asked, when Magnus did not explain further and started pacing, a hand dragging through the jet-black hair that had taken on a dark blue sheen at the tips as today’s look. Simon looked back at the flower in his hand. If Magnus was reacting that way, it meant nothing good, and it made him nervous for their unaccounted-for friends. “Magnus? Who left this?”

Magnus took a deep breath, eyes not fixing on the rose for long before his gaze skittered away. “A black rose used to be a calling card of a warlock named Cassius. But it can’t be from him. He’s imprisoned.”

Simon’s heart jumped just as he jumped to the conclusion that Cassius had been imprisoned by Shadowhunters and that, if he had somehow escaped, he was taking revenge on Shadowhunters, which would explain their missing friends.

“Imprisoned by Shadowhunters?” Simon voiced his fear.

Magnus shook his head, looking increasingly distressed. “By warlocks.”

“Why would your people imprison one of your own?” Simon asked as Magnus spun on his heel and marched into his lounge, opening a safe in the bookcase and taking an intricately designed book out of it, before taking another item – an Omamori charm Simon believed Alec had given to Magnus at some point – from his pocket.

“Because he was breaking the Accords and attacking Nephilim and any Downworlders that weren’t warlocks. He believed warlocks to be the supreme race. He was incredibly powerful and the warlocks promised the Shadowhunters that we would deal with our own, that we could contain him better than they could. The Shadowhunters agreed as part of a peace settlement at the time.”

Simon was growing increasingly confused. “Are you worried he has taken Clary and Alec and the others? Why would he take them? And why would he take Raphael as well? Why did he leave you a rose?”

“Because he doesn’t like Raphael,” Magnus replied distractedly, focusing on the charm in his hand as his fingers glowed around it, eyes closed. “And because Cassius was once my boyfriend.”

Simon stared, mouth gaping before he could stop it. “What?”

Magnus ignored him, looking frustrated as he carefully tucked the Omamori charm back into his jacket pocket, before taking the book in hand. “I can’t track Alec,” Magnus murmured so quietly, that if Simon had not had enhanced hearing, he would have missed it. But he didn’t miss it, just like he didn’t miss the wobble in Magnus’ voice at his inability to track Alec’s whereabouts. “Come on, Raphael,” he whispered, curling his fingers around the book in his hands, assumedly something he had gotten from Raphael at some point.

After a minute or so of attempting to track Raphael, Magnus let out an angry, twisted hiss and slammed the book onto the surface of the table. He stood swiftly and as he strode past Simon he took hold of Simon’s jacket sleeve and pulled him towards the door. Before they reached the door, however, Magnus opened a portal and they walked straight through it without missing a beat.

They walked out into a street Simon recognised as being two blocks from Magnus’ house.

“If he knows where I live then he could have been watching me and my apartment for days,” Magnus said, not allowing Simon a word before dragging him down the street and hailing a taxi cab.

“A cab?” Simon asked, raising his eyebrow.

“I want to lose him, if he is following us,” Magnus said, “Call Luke. We will need his help.”

“And then will you explain what the hell is going on?” Simon hissed as they got into the cab.

“Once Luke joins us,” Magnus said. He fished the Omamari charm back out of his pocket and turned it over in his fingers. He was upset, Simon could tell, even if he was trying to hide it, and if Magnus was afraid, then Simon knew that whatever was going on, and whatever had happened to Raphael and the Shadowhunters was serious and dangerous. “I will explain everything,” he promised.

***

Two taxi rides and three portals later Simon and Magnus had taken refuge in a coffee shop that Simon had never heard of or been to before, when Luke came through the door, spotting them instantly and approaching the small corner booth that they had claimed at the back of the shop, away from the windows.

“What’s going on?” Luke asked them, face etched with concern as he slid into a seat, eyes searching their faces. “Simon, did you find Clary? What’s happened?”

Simon shook his head, “I couldn’t find Clary. Magnus thinks that…” Simon glanced at Magnus.

“Lucian, I think Clary, Alec, Jace, Isabelle and Raphael might have been taken,” Magnus finished for him.

“Taken?” Luke’s face fell. “By who? Why?”

“A warlock by the name of Cassius,” Magnus said. “He is a warlock-supremacist that was imprisoned by my people in the late 1950s. He had been killing Downworlders and Nephilim alike, anyone that was not warlock.”

Simon grimaced. After what his Bubbie Helen had gone through when the Nazis had persecuted her - their - people...after Valentine had wanted to rid the world of all Downworlders, believing the Nephilim the supreme race...when would the world and the people in it stop persecuting people who were not like them?

Simon’s angry thoughts were interrupted by Magnus continuing;

“He was a High Warlock and one of the most powerful I have ever seen. The warlocks and Shadowhunters agreed that the warlocks would be able to keep him contained better than the Shadowhunters could. But he must have escaped somehow, not that I had heard anything of it. This was left at my apartment less than an hour ago,” Magnus placed the black rose on the table top. Simon noticed that the green of the stalk was a little bloodied; Magnus had been holding it tightly and not realised he had cut himself on the thorns. “It was his calling card at the time.”

“Why is he targeting you?” Luke asked.

“I dated him on-and-off for two years,” Magnus said, “In 1952 and 1953. At the time he was just a High Warlock, powerful and respected, charming and handsome.” He stopped. “His supremacist and extreme ideals were not exposed until several years later. I broke up with him when I first saw a glimpse of that side of him. He grew angry, unreasonably angry, over my taking in of Raphael when he was turned in 1953. He hated Raphael and my caring for him, my helping him through the transition, and Cassius grew jealous, and his true self was one night shown to me during an argument, when he threatened to destroy any Downworlder I took in. I broke up with him on the spot and Raphael and I left his area of jurisdiction. I never saw Cassius again and six years later he had been caught and imprisoned for his crimes. I had hoped that he had forgotten me. It has been decades.” Magnus tapped on the table with his nails, his gaze fearful. “But I am afraid he has taken Raphael to destroy him as he once promised.”

“And the Shadowhunters?” Luke asked. “Why would he take them? He doesn’t know them.”

“He left the rose at my apartment door, which means he knows where I live. He could have been watching me and seen who has entered my apartment during the last week. I have had Raphael visit, Alec, all of them. You two are the only people of our usual cohort that have not visited me at home in the last week. He may dislike my fraternising with Nephilim, and if he knows that I am dating one of them…” Magnus trailed off, twisting the rings on his fingers now. “I don’t know what he might do. He is capable of anything and he has had them for at least twenty-four hours, if the last any of us heard from one of them was yesterday before midday.” Magnus paused, looking to Luke. “I have tried using my tracking magic to find Alec and Raphael and have failed. If Cassius does have them then he will have used wards to stop me from tracking them and will use wards to hide them until he wants me to find them. I could possibly break those wards, but I was wondering if there was any way you could trace them via scent? He likely does not know I am friends with Werewolves and he may not have bothered to cover his tracks other than the wards themselves.  He left the rose to gain my attention and I assume that he will get in touch at some point to make me go to him. I hope…” Magnus took a breath. “I hope that if that is the case then he will not have harmed them. But I would rather not wait until he contacts me. I would rather us find him first. And get them back as soon as we can.”

“I can gather the pack and we can spread out and see if we can sense any new warded areas. I could also see if I could trace Clary’s scent.” 

Luke opened his satchel and produced a sky-blue knitted scarf that Simon remembered well from Clary’s pre-Shadowhunter leather combat gear days. Sometimes he missed the pre-Shadowhunter leather combat gear days, the pre-vampire days, the Clary-and-Simon-against-the-world days. But he was missing those days less and less. Simon had good friends, Maia, Raphael and Magnus and the Shadowhunters, and he still had Clary, and they still had the odd Clary-and-Simon-against-the-world day. He was afraid for his friends. He hoped that they would find them and get them all back unharmed.

Magnus agreed with Luke’s idea, and Luke had just gotten hold of his phone to message his pack when Magnus’ phone vibrated against the table top. Raphael’s name appeared on the screen.

Magnus glanced up at Simon and Luke before sweeping the phone into his hand.

“It’s a message,” Magnus said. “An address.” He sighed. “We are too late to catch Cassius by surprise.”

The phone buzzed again. Simon only glimpsed an image of the Shadowhunters bound by the wrists in a darkened room before Magnus was on his feet, expression furious.

“We have to leave. Now.”

“And we are just going to walk in there?” Luke asked, “Magnus let’s think about this…”

“He said that if I’m not there in ten minutes he will kill Clary or Izzy,” Magnus said and Simon watched Magnus’ face darken with fury, even as Simon’s stomach twisted in fear for Clary and Izzy. “It’s me he wants,” Magnus said. “You don’t have to come with me.”

“Like hell,” Luke muttered, standing up as well. “Portal us there. We will deal with this together.”

Magnus nodded, throwing some money on the table for the cold cups of coffee that had been left untouched and leading the way out of the café and into the nearest deserted alley. With a flick of his hand he opened up a portal before them. At the last second he spun around.

“Wait, Lucian, Simon,” Magnus said, “I have an idea.”

***

What Magnus had once told Alec - that Magnus had cut himself off from feeling anything for anyone for centuries - was true. Magnus had not felt anything more than lust for Cassius. Cassius had been charismatic and good-looking, intriguing and powerful and Magnus had not had any qualms about starting a relationship based on mutual attraction and sex. They had had a volatile relationship, with Cassius becoming more invested in their relationship than Magnus; various incidents of Cassius displaying possessive or vicious behaviour had had Magnus calling off their relationship a number of times. But Cassius was hard to ignore, as Magnus’ High Warlock at the time.

It wasn’t until Magnus had found Raphael and had taken him in, as he had done with countless Downworlders before meeting Cassius, and Cassius had displayed such hateful and jealous opinions that Magnus had realised what a dangerous, cruel interior Cassius was hiding. Magnus was a one-soul-at-a-time kind of man and Cassius did not have a soul to care for. Magnus had left him the night that Cassius had threatened to destroy all of Magnus’ ‘adopted’ Downworlders and Magnus had fled to pastures new with Raphael in tow, to make sure that Cassius could never follow through on his threat.

Six years later, when it was discovered that Cassius had been destroying Downworlders and attempting to convert warlocks to his sick supremacist beliefs, Magnus had been devastated that he had allowed such a vile creature into his bed, guilty for not seeing the signs, for recognising or exposing Cassius for what he was sooner. But then, Cassius had been a master actor and it had not just been Magnus that had been completely and utterly fooled. He had fooled everyone.

Cassius had been imprisoned by the warlocks and Magnus had pushed him to the back of his mind, never considering that Cassius would ever find a way out, that he would ever haunt Magnus’ life again.

And now he had both Alec and Raphael. And Magnus was terrified.

He had managed to remain mostly composed in front of Simon, when he had not known why Alec and Raphael were missing, but the moment that he had seen the black rose, the fear had begun to bubble away. The fury and the anger came later, at the sight of Alec, Clary, Jace and Izzy tied up in whatever building Cassius had taken them to.

Now a fire of dread, worry and rage burned inside of him and he pushed it down, attempted to not let on to Lucian and Simon how concerned he was as he led them through the portal and into the very obvious trap of one of the most powerful warlocks that Magnus had ever met.

“Magnus,” It had been a long time since Magnus had heard that voice, calm and cold.

Magnus refused to look at the Shadowhunters, lined up near the far wall, because he did not want Cassius to see that he cared so much. It was a very hard thing to do, when all he wanted to do was seek out Alec and make sure that he was unharmed. But too much attention on Alec would draw Cassius’ attention and Magnus was afraid of what that could lead to.

Instead, Magnus forced his gaze to Cassius, who he had not seen for over sixty years. He looked exactly as Magnus remembered him; olive skin, long tied-back hair that was darker than pitch, and his eyes were just as dark, and much more menacing now that they were not masked by the charming-rogue façade he had been maintaining when Magnus had known him. 

“Cassius,” Magnus said. “I cannot say that it is a pleasure to see you again.”

“Do you have any warlock friends at all these days, Magnus?” Cassius asked, his good-humoured tone sounding sinister regardless. “I have your Shadowhunters…” The motion of Cassius’ hand allowed Magnus’ gaze to fall on the Shadowhunters. Magnus caught Alec’s gaze first, as he always did, and had to force himself not to react to the state of him. It wasn’t so much any sign of physical injury - though there was the dark blue of bruising along his jaw - it was the white sallowness of his skin and the dark circles under his eyes that suggested a sleepless night and possible magical torture that had Magnus’ heart clenching painfully. Magnus made a quick assessment of all four of them; and they all looked the same, tired and pale, outwardly uninjured but by no means unharmed. They were tied at the wrists, but weren’t attached to the wall, which meant that Cassius must have them immobilised by a spell, and from the way Jace was making angry sounds from sealed lips, it was likely they had been silenced as well. Each Shadowhunter had an expression of their usual stubborn determination, but Magnus knew them better than that. He could tell that they were feeling too much at Cassius’ mercy, which is what Magnus was also afraid of.

“And I have your precious vampire.” At Cassius’ words Magnus followed his line of sight to see a barred cell across the room, pinpricks of sunlight shining down like laser-points in a number of places, and pressed into the shadows of one corner, skin seared by lines of sunlight, was Raphael.

Magnus gasped Raphael’s name and took a step forwards, before Cassius said, “You move another step towards him, Magnus, and I will tear out the roof above his head and let him burn.”

Magnus stopped, mouth moving in a silent apology as Raphael watched him.

“It’s alright, Magnus,” Raphael said, his voice rough and in pain and all Magnus wanted to do was go to him, apologise and heal him…

“No, it’s not alright, Magnus,” Cassius said, eyes cold when Magnus glared back at him. “You spend your time with Shadowhunters, your pet vampire, and when I think you could not stand lower in betrayal to your own race, you arrive with another vampire…” Cassius looked past Magnus to where Simon and Lucian were standing behind him, his gaze locking on Lucian, his mouth twisting. “And a werewolf.”

“The only one betraying our kind is you,” Magnus hissed. “You and your hate campaign are a disgrace to our race. That’s why they imprisoned you, remember? I am the High Warlock of Brooklyn. I have warlock friends just as I have vampire, werewolf and fair folk friends. We are all Downworlders.”

“If you insist,” Cassius said with a curl of his lip, but a gleam in his eye. “That does still not explain the Nephilim.  And do not bother trying to make me believe that they are not your friends, Magnus, because I have seen them visit you at your home.”

“From where I run my business dealings,” Magnus countered smoothly. “I help the Nephilim as I help any client that pays. Besides, I am not sure if you have heard, but the Shadowhunters have set up a council that includes Downworlder representatives…”

“Oh and I bet you jumped at that chance. Your love for them will destroy you.”

“Ideals like yours would destroy me. Why are you _here,_ Cassius?”

“Because I loved you,” Cassius said, and Magnus froze. “I loved you and you chose your love of the Downworlders over me.”

Magnus had never loved Cassius in return, but he was not about to admit that, not when his loved ones’ lives were on the line.  

“It was a long time ago,” Magnus said.

“A long time, yes. Decades of time. I had a lot of time to think, after they locked me up. I thought about you. I decided that I would follow through on my promise to rid you of your Downworlder baggage. And yet, when I found you again I found you immersed in their worlds more than I could ever have imagined; and not just the Weres, the vampires and the fair folk, no. You have befriended the Shadowhunters, the people that have oppressed us for so long. Oppressed us, when we could easily obliterate them if our people finally saw sense, worked together and decided to rebel.” Cassius sighed. “And then,” he said, “Well, I could scarcely believe the talk that you were dating one of them.”

Magnus’ stomach plummeted. “Rumours,” he said, only just able to stop his eyes flickering to the Shadowhunters, to Alec.

Cassius scoffed, “Don’t lie to me Magnus.” He turned and walked towards the Shadowhunters. “Dating a Shadowhunter, I heard. So I took the four frequent visitors to your apartment; you clearly care about all of them and they are all attractive,” he said, brushing his fingers over Izzy’s jaw as she narrowed her eyes at him, unable to pull her head back due to his immobilising magic. “But I also heard…” Cassius’ eyes met Magnus’, “The Shadowhunter is male.”

He moved toward Jace and Alec, and Magnus gritted his teeth.

“This one _is_ beautiful,” he said of Jace, “And with enough sass to keep you on your toes. He was one of the reasons I decided to silence the lot of them.”

Jace made angry noises at him, expression furious.

“But, you have a type, Magnus,” Cassius said, “And this one,” he pointed finally at Alec, before circling behind him, “This one is exactly your type.” Cassius glanced from Alec back to Magnus, “Hmm? And don’t you lie to me, or else I will kill him just to see the truth in your eyes and then I will kill the rest of them.”

Cassius turned his back to Magnus and from the corner of his eye Magnus noted Simon moving steadily across the room towards Raphael’s cell, until Cassius turned back around and Simon froze again.

“It’s Alec, isn’t it?” Cassius asked Alec. Rather than look afraid of him, Alec narrowed his eyes at him, and Magnus loved him for it.

“Oh sorry, you can’t speak, can you?”  Cassius clicked his fingers.

Alec gasped, staggering forwards as the hold on him dropped. Cassius reached out, grasped his hair and pulled his head back.

Magnus had a moment to see the horror on Izzy and Jace’s faces before he wrenched his gaze back to Alec, afraid to look away for too long, as Cassius asked, “Are you going to deny it Magnus?”

“No, he isn’t going to deny it,” Alec said, voice hoarse from the silencing magic and having his head held back.

“Alec," Magnus said desperately.

“You know it’s me that is dating Magnus, now,” Alec spoke to Cassius, ignoring Magnus’ plea. “So let the others go.”

Jace, who had been making angry noises of protest the entire time, increased them tenfold.

“Self-sacrificial as well, oh Magnus, is he almost too good for you?” Cassius smoothed his hand down the side of Alec’s neck, then up to his face. “He is a pretty one. You always liked pretty things. He’s young, too. It’s a shame really.”

Alec’s eyes moved to Magnus, and Magnus took several steps forward at the sight of the uneasiness in his eyes. Magnus nodded his head, ever so slightly, for Alec's gaze only, and uneasiness instantly hardened with stubborn determination.

“It’s alright, Magnus,” Alec said, and Magnus knew immediately that Alec’s words had dual intentions. There were the words for Cassius’ ears, but there was also the message for Magnus’ ears. Alec knew that Magnus was biding his time and he was telling him that it was ok to continue. It would hurt Magnus to follow the plan through, but it was the only chance they had.

“Let him go,” Magnus demanded, “Don’t touch him.”

Cassius grinned at finally getting the rise he was after, pressing a kiss to Alec’s temple before splaying his hand across Alec’s chest. Before Magnus could stop him, Cassius’ fingers were glowing and Alec let out a shriek of pain, staggering to his knees.

Behind them, Jace made a pained noise, eyes clenching shut as he felt a shadow of the pain that his _parabatai_ was enduring. Izzy’s face was dark with fury.

“Alec!” Magnus shouted to him, rushing forwards.

“Stop right there or I will increase it,” Cassius warned, pulling Alec back into him, not letting him go, fingers still sparking. Magnus knew that the magic he was using was meant to cause pain but not to be fatal. Not yet. But that did not matter, because he also knew that Alec would not have to endure it much longer.

“Please,” Magnus begged, “Stop. Stop it.”

Alec’s eyes were rolling, the pained shouts gone as he shuddered with it.

“Cassius please…”

Cassius stopped and Alec slumped into Cassius’ hold, his head rolling back onto Cassius' shoulder.

“Do you really think your begging was going to distract me?” Cassius said suddenly, his voice cold and angry again. “You think I haven’t noticed that you have been keeping my attention so that your little vampire friend can free the other one? You think I won’t bring the sunlight down on both of them the second he gets in?” His dark eyes had flicked to where Simon had reached Raphael’s cell. “You think I wouldn't know that you would have some kind of plot to stop me? I actually had expected something much more effective than this. I clearly overestimated you.”

“Well…” Magnus said, “I am about to take great pleasure in proving you wrong.” a second before his magic erupted into life. With one hand he threw a ball of light to destroy the lock on the cell door, and with the other he broke Cassius’ hold on the three other Shadowhunters; Cassius’ concentration of magic on Alec had lessened his hold elsewhere and Magnus was now able to break it with ease.

At the same time Lucian, in wolf form, darted past them to free the ropes around Clary and Izzy’s wrists. Jace’s eyes glowed as he broke his own apart.

Cassius shouted something, and a moment later the ceiling of Raphael’s cell collapsed, bearing sunlight into the cell. Magnus’ heart jumped, until he saw that Simon had shielded Raphael’s body from the sun, as they had planned.

Cassius was staring at Simon, clearly bewildered at how a vampire could survive exposure to the sun, and in his distraction, Lucian crashed into him from the side as Jace hauled Alec’s semi-conscious, but alive, body in the other direction.

Magnus turned fierce cat-eyes onto Cassius and stalked towards him, magic crackling all around him. The plan had worked; everybody freed, Alec alive, Raphael alive. Now he just had to deal with the warlock that had dared to threaten the people he loved.

***

Simon had been edging his way towards Raphael’s cell from the moment they had arrived. Magnus had predicted – rightly predicted, as it turned out – that for all that Cassius had ‘heard’, the news of a Daylighter had escaped him, and that he had never seen one before.

The second that Magnus had blasted the cell door open, Simon used his vampire speed to cross the cell and reach Raphael, knowing that Cassius would follow through on his threat of opening the roof.

Simon was already covering Raphael with himself and his jacket by the time Cassius did just that.

“You ok?” Simon whispered at Raphael as he felt the sudden warmth of the sun on the back of his neck.

“As long as you stay where you are I will be,” Raphael said. He sounded exhausted.

“And there I was thinking you would never want me on top of you.”

He had expected Raphael to flounder, not the smooth retort of, “The fact that you have thought about it…”

“Thought…” Simon spluttered, because there _had_ been that dream…and that other dream…and that daydream that time… “I haven’t thought about it…” He opened his eyes to find Raphael’s a centimetre from his own. “Shut up with your laughing eyes.” He scrabbled to get his jacket over Raphael’s stupid face as quickly as possible. “And if you dare make a blindfold joke...”

“That hadn’t even crossed my mind, but clearly it has crossed yours.”

“Yeah yeah, you have used that joke already. It’s getting old. You want to get out of here?”

“Sí.” 

“Be nice then, amigo.” Simon hauled Raphael to his feet, carefully wrapping Raphael’s arm around his shoulders while keeping him under the jacket, until they had left the cell and out of the glare of the sun. There was a different brightness in the dark concrete room they entered, because Magnus and Cassius were having a battle like Simon had never seen. Balls of crackling magic were flying across the room, Magnus almost unrecognisable in an encompassing blue glow, his cat eyes shining. His dark hair was spiked, his long blue and black coat flying and he looked incredible; powerful, intimidating, deadly.

“You thought I was useless, that High Warlocks had grown soft in your time away,” Magnus shouted at Cassius, effectively hitting him with enough magic to send Cassius stumbling. “You thought you had overestimated me. Never. I was biding my time, saving my power, for this. Because I know _you_ , Cassius, and your ability to _underestimate_ me in every single way!”

Another blast from Magnus knocked Cassius to his knees, the next to the ground and Magnus stalked forwards, magic blazing around him, hands filled with sparks, oozing power.

“This is what happens,” Magnus snarled down at him, “When you threaten my family.”

His arms drew back and then shot forwards. The magic that hit Cassius seemed to press him down into the floor, until Simon realised that Magnus had opened a portal underneath him, shoving him through it.

“Enjoy the rest of your immortality in incarceration, Cassius,” Magnus grinned manically, “And I will be making damn sure you aren’t getting out ever, ever again.”

And with another incredible flash of light, Cassius was gone and Magnus was left panting in the middle of the room.

Simon shifted his hold on Raphael as Magnus looked over at them to check on Raphael before staggering exhaustedly across the room towards where Jace and Izzy were on the floor on either side of Alec. Clary was standing close by, pressed into Luke, his arm around her shoulders.

Simon turned back to Raphael to look at him properly and tried not to grimace at the raw seared lines of flesh crisscrossing Raphael’s body.

“You ok?” Simon asked.

“I will be.” There was an open line cutting right across Raphael’s face, over one eye and down through the centre of his lips. It looked hellishly painful.

Simon could not help but think guiltily back to the last time this had happened to Raphael, when Aldertree had tortured him, and of how unsympathetic Simon had been to Raphael when he had interrupted Magnus healing him at his apartment.

“I can go and get you some blood or…”

Raphael shook his head. “Right now I just need you to hold me up.”

Simon held onto him a little tighter. “Sure, Raphael. I can do that.”

The corner of Raphael’s mouth twitched into a small smile. “Thanks.”

Simon smiled back.

***

Magnus nearly collapsed down in front of Alec, where Jace and Izzy had him propped up on the floor. Alec’s chest was still hitching with pained breaths, but Magnus hoped that it was just residual stress from the magic.

“Alexander,” Magnus breathed.

Alec’s eyes cracked open. “Magnus.”

Magnus gave him a wobbly smile before running a hand over Alec’s chest, using his magic to make sure that Cassius’ magic had not done any permanent damage. He gave a sigh of relief when he didn’t find anything and when Alec reached for him, Magnus pulled him forward into his arms, breathing into Alec’s dark hair.

“I’m sorry Alexander,” Magnus murmured, stroking a hand through the short strands of hair at the back of Alec’s head. Apologising for having to use Alec as a distraction, sorry for Cassius taking him in the first place to get revenge on Magnus. “I’m so sorry.”

“I told you it was alright,” Alec said, “I knew you’d have a plan.”

“You have a lot of faith in me.”

Alec pulled back a little to look into Magnus’ eyes, resting his forehead against Magnus’.

“That’s because I never underestimate you.”

Magnus laughed wetly, kissing Alec’s cheek and holding him close again.

“Did he injure any of you before we arrived?” Lucian asked, taking charge of the situation.

“He hit us with magic a few times,” Clary said. She seemed to be favouring her right side. “Nothing a stele or Magnus can’t fix. He had had Raphael for hours before he got us, though.”

“He only used his magic to overpower us and make a point, and then just left us immobilised and silenced,” Izzy said. “He said he wanted to wait for you. But he was torturing Raphael the whole time. He said they had history.”

“I need to check on him,” Magnus said to Alec and Alec nodded, allowing Magnus to untangle himself.

“I’ve got him,” Jace promised Magnus, taking Alec’s weight back.

Magnus smiled gratefully before rushing to where Simon was steadily helping Raphael over to them.

“Oh Raphael I am…”

“Don’t apologise,” Raphael interrupted, “If that is what you are about to do. We both knew him back then and we both know he’s a psychopath. This had nothing to do with you. It was all on him. You saved me then and you have saved me now.”

“Of course I did,” Magnus said, lifting his hand to run his finger's over Raphael's jaw. “You are my boy.”

Raphael was going to smile at him, but hissed when it pulled the wound over his lips.

“I can’t see you like this any longer,” Magnus said, hating Cassius for hurting his son like he had. “Let’s get you healed.”

“We can wait until you are back to strength,” Raphael said, “I have had worse than this.”

“I always hate when you say that,” Magnus said sadly, taking Raphael carefully when Simon handed him over. “And I have power enough left for you, darling. Always.” He looked to Luke and the Shadowhunters. “Come on, I will portal us back to my apartment.”

***

“Cassius was strong,” Jace said to Magnus a little later when Raphael’s wounds had been closed.

Alec was in Magnus’ bedroom, sleeping off the rest of the stress on his body that Cassius’ magic had caused. As soon as Raphael had been healed and had had several glasses of blood, he had excused himself to the _Hotel Dumort_ , wanting to make sure nothing had happened in his absence.

The rest of them were all sitting in Magnus’ lounge space; Izzy, Simon and Luke on one couch, and Clary and Jace on the same one as Magnus.

“With my angel blood,” Jace continued. “I thought I might be able to break out of his hold. I’ve done it before on other occasions. But I couldn’t. He was too strong.”

“Cassius is one of the most powerful warlocks I have ever met,” Magnus agreed. “But luckily for you, I am just as powerful.” He offered Jace a wink and Jace grinned before looking down at where Clary and Jace's hands were entwined on Jace's knee.

“We never doubted you would save us, Magnus, even if Cassius did,” Clary said from Jace’s other side.

Magnus’ smile softened, “Thanks biscuit.”

“Oh yeah, all the crazy blue lights and the ‘nobody hurts my family!’ was super dramatic, Magnus. It was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen outside of movies,” Simon reassured him.

Magnus rolled his eyes before sobering a little. “I should have known he would come back for me, that he would have gotten out somehow. I apologise that you all got caught up in his revenge on me.”

Izzy waved his apology aside with her perfectly-manicured hand. “Do not blame yourself, Magnus. As Raphael said, it was all on Cassius, all of it. We have been deceived by people before, just as you have, and you cannot blame yourself for not seeing him for what he was when you were in a relationship, or for his escape.” She paused, looking pained, "We didn't see Sebastian for what he was. We of all people know how easy it is to be deceived."

Magnus shot her a small smile. “He isn’t the only warlock, or Downworlder, or…or demon, who might come looking for me, just to warn you. It’s the perks of having such a long and colourful history.”

“We have dealt with Camille, we have dealt with Cassius, we will deal with the rest,” Lucian said.

“You could get hurt.”

“And yet we will have you there to help us,” Izzy said. “And we will deal with whatever comes our way together. Like you said, Magnus, we are family now, and nobody hurts family.”

***

Alec was still sleeping when Magnus finally decided to go to bed, but stirred when Magnus slipped under the covers beside him.

“Magnus,” Alec slurred.

“I’m here,” Magnus murmured, wrapping his arms around Alec’s sleep-warm body. “How are you feeling, darling?”

“Better,” Alec said and Magnus smiled when Alec’s dark eyes opened and found him in the dim room. “Are you ok?”

Magnus sighed, moving his thumb back and forth over Alec’s skin. “I’m fine. I was just so worried about you. When I hadn’t heard from you, when I learnt that Cassius had you, and then seeing him hurt you in that way…”

“Magnus,” Alec said, his hand moving to clasp one of Magnus’ own where it lay over his chest, where Cassius’ had been placed to torture him only hours ago. “You saved us. I’m fine. He’s gone.”

Magnus surged forwards to kiss him, Alec gasping softly and lifting his other hand out from the sheets to hold the back of Magnus’ head.

“I love you,” Magnus whispered to him. “And I will destroy anything that ever tries to hurt you.”

“I know,” Alec said. “I was conscious enough to see you take him down. It was very attractive.”

“Don’t make me blush, Lightwood.”

“If I had more energy I would.”

Magnus laughed into Alec’s collarbone. His Shadowhunter was growing less shy by the day. “You need rest, Alexander, and sleep.” He pressed a kiss to Alec’s skin before settling back down beside him. “So sleep.”

Alec did as he was told and his heavy eyes fell closed again. “I love you too, you know,” Alec murmured sleepily.

Magnus kissed his shoulder, “I know, Alexander,” he said, as he vowed to himself that he would keep to his word; he would do everything in his power to protect Alec and their family from any threats, any ghosts, from Magnus’ past, and there were many. He held Alec tighter. “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am super excited about seeing the Magnus warlock-rivalry next season and this sorta happened as a result. Obviously with creating a new warlock character I may have screwed Magnus' 1950s timeline up a tad but eh, this is what fanfic is for.
> 
> Also, this fic knocked another two off the headcanon list - more Raphael!whump and Simon stepping up to save him, and Magnus' being all super-powerful and bamf and protecting his family. I hope the folks that wanted to read those headcanons are pleased and that you all enjoyed it!
> 
> So, Season 3 had best hurry itself up, right? When are we getting a new trailer? I need new Malec teasers like now.


	7. The one where Simon and Raphael apartment-sit for their Downworlder Dad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back with another short story y'all. Season 3 is inspiring me. Naturally this update has spoilers for Season 3 so far. So be warned. This one is to fulfill my 'Magnus makes the boys house-sit' headcanon.
> 
> This one is set just before Season 3, so before Alec goes off to Idris for Clary's ceremony (but he still knows something is up with Jace), before Magnus is stripped of his High Warlock title (boo!), before Raphael goes to Magnus for the stuff for Heidi in S3E1 and before Simon visits the Seelie Queen and is given the Mark of Cain.

Simon was feeling rather smug and self-important. And also a little flattered. Magnus Bane, _the_ Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn, man of mystery, powerful ancient being that he was, was officially his Downworlder Dad. If the previous efforts to help Simon out of the various jams he seemed to somehow find himself in and the way that he had taken Simon under his wing weren’t enough evidence, then this was the nail in the literal coffin; because Simon Lewis, recently turned Vampire and even-more-recently turned Daylighter, had been asked to housesit, or apartment-sit, for Magnus Bane.

It didn’t sound particularly life changing, but to Simon it meant a lot. Magnus trusted him to take care of things whilst Magnus whisked Alec away for a holiday around Europe. Not a lot of people trusted Simon with things. He was good at keeping secrets; he hadn’t told a soul about Jace’s angel blood being the reason Simon could survive in direct sunlight. But he was clumsy, and a little prone to disaster, or rather, disaster finding him. Speaking of, he was also grateful to have something else to focus on other than waiting worriedly for whatever the Seelie Queen had in store for him after their bargain over Maia’s release from the Seelie Realm. So it felt good to be trusted by Magnus. Magnus hadn’t asked Clary or Izzy, or even Jace, who had even lived with Magnus before. He hadn’t asked Luke. He had asked Simon.

And Simon was not going to let him down.

He was going to prove himself a worthy adopted-Downworlder.

So yes, he was feeling flattered for Magnus’ trust; self-important because of it, too. He was smug, because Magnus had asked him first. He had asked Simon. Not the Shadowhunters, not Luke. Not Raphael, the stalker-y, unflappable, arrogant…

Simon unlocked Magnus’ door and stepped into the apartment.

“Oh for the love of…” Simon shrieked, clutching his hand to his chest.

Raphael raised his eyebrow at him from his cosy-looking spot on Magnus’ couch.

“What are you doing here?” Raphael asked.

Simon gawped, waving his hands around dramatically. “What am _I_ doing here? What are _you_ doing here?”

Raphael tipped up his chin defiantly and still seemed capable of looking down at Simon even when he was sitting. “I asked first.”

Simon gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes before waving the key to the front door around in front of him as proof. “Magnus asked me to check in on the apartment and keep the cats fed while he’s away. What are you doing here?”

“Magnus asked me to keep a check on his mail for him,” Raphael nodded at the papers lying on the coffee table.

“But…” Simon frowned, waving the key some more as though that would explain his right to be there over the other vampire. “He gave me a key.”

“Am I supposed to be impressed?” Raphael’s eyebrow quirked again, “I’m staying in the guest room.”

Simon scoffed. “Yeah right…”

Raphael just watched him, waiting. Waiting for Simon to notice that the windows were all shuttered, the room darkened, because it was the middle of the day. Oh. Right.

“Ah,” Simon said, a little put-out. A little pissed off. “Well why didn’t he ask one of us to just do it instead of both of us?”

Raphael looked smug again. “Clearly Magnus does not trust you with his important mail.”

“Yeah, well,” Simon countered defensively, “Maybe Magnus doesn’t trust you with his important…cats.”

It sounded lame even to his own ears, but Simon was stubborn and he stubbornly crossed his arms. He was a little surprised when, after regarding him with pitying amusement, Raphael actually nodded thoughtfully.

“The cats don’t like me much,” Raphael allowed.

“They only started liking me more after I became a Daylighter,” Simon said.

Raphael was starting to look hesitantly, resentfully and suspiciously curious again, like he did whenever the Daylighter conversation came up and Simon fielded it quickly with a; “I still don’t know how it happened before you ask me for the hundredth time.”

Raphael smirked at him, but it didn’t quite mask how his eyes narrowed fractionally with irritation. “I’ll stop asking you when you start being convincing.”

He stood up in one fluid movement and Simon forced himself not to take a step backward out of habit. He and Raphael had been on reasonably good terms of late. Magnus and Alec, Raphael and Simon had started having dinner together sometimes, and even went to _Pandemonium_ several times on nights out, one infamous occasion involving a lost bet and being left to the mercy of Magnus’ wardrobe choices and make-up brush. Raphael had looked pretty good in eyeliner and dark maroon and when Alec and Magnus had had to run off briefly to help Clary, Jace and Izzy, Raphael had kept the blood cocktails flowing, known behind the bar as a friend of Magnus and getting the drinks for free for the both of them. After Simon had helped save Raphael from Magnus’ jealous, crazy ex Cassius, he and Raphael stood on reasonably good ground again. Not quite at the level they had been on in the early days of Simon being turned, when Raphael would lend him suits and discuss things with him, but it was nicer to have Raphael’s hesistant trust again than Simon cared to admit; the days of Raphael being wary of his sudden Daylighter abilities, angry about Simon’s betrayal over Camille and the pair of them using family as threats against each other seemed to finally be behind them.

Still, Simon was a little disheartened that Magnus thought it required the both of them to check in on the apartment. Unless that had been Magnus’ plan on purpose, which he would not put past the warlock for a second. Still, it was a bit of a risk. Knowing Simon and Raphael’s love-hate frenemy relationship, Magnus and Alec were either going to return to peace and harmony or absolute chaos. There was no in-between.

“Guest room, huh?” Simon said when the silence had gone on a little too long, a little bitter about Magnus asking Raphael to stay there while Simon had to just ‘pop in’. “Must be nice.”

Raphael’s smirk turned more genuinely smug. “Better than sleeping in a canoe.”

Simon gawped, affronted. “Well even that’s better than a coffin.”

Raphael rolled his eyes, unimpressed. “You know perfectly well that I sleep in a bed.”

Simon crossed his arms tighter and jutted out his chin. “Yeah well, you know perfectly well that I do too. I only sleep in the canoe sometimes for fun.”

“You have a weird sense of fun.”

“I thought we had established that ages ago.”

“True,” Raphael allowed, sitting back down on the couch in another unfairly fluid movement. “So, how are we going to work this out? I can feed the cats if you would rather not come…”

“Magnus asked me personally to check in on everything and that’s what I’m going to do, whether you’re lurking here or not.”

Raphael cocked his head. “I do not lurk.”

“You do. It’s your speciality. You lurk and creep and scare the shit out of me by appearing out of nowhere.”

Raphael looked more pleased than offended. “Do you know where everything is if I finish sorting Magnus’ paperwork?”

Simon nodded. “Sure.”

Raphael returned his nod. The vampire did not seem at all offended that Magnus had asked another, much newer, part of Magnus’ Downworlder family to help Raphael - well established as Magnus’ favourite of his adopted lot - look after Magnus’ things until he returned. Simon was once again surprised, but left Raphael to his own business while completing his own list of tasks asked of him by Magnus.

They worked around each other in comfortable silence and once Simon had finished he clapped his hands loudly, just so that he could grin when Raphael jumped slightly and then acted like he hadn’t.

“Right, that’s me,” Simon said. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

He expected a snipe, a retort not to bother, that Raphael would handle it by himself, but Raphael just nodded and said “See you tomorrow.”

Simon was too surprised to respond, so thought it best to leave it at that before he put his foot in it by saying anything else.

***

“Good afternoooon!” Simon sing-songed as he swung open the door to Magnus’ apartment the next day.

There was a bang, a grunt and then Raphael shuffled into view from the guest bedroom, clearly just having woken up. He was wearing the most casual outfit that Simon had ever seen him in; soft black sweatpants and a tight black t-shirt, and he was scrubbing a hand through his scruffy hair while cutting Simon a very displeased look.

“Do you have to be so loud?” Raphael complained. “I forgot how loud you are.”

“Ooooh,” Simon said, kicking off his shoes in the doorway, “So is that the real reason you kicked me out of the Dumort?”

“No. It’s because you betrayed me and released Camille,” Raphael deadpanned.

“Yeah, well now I live in a boathouse and have werewolf neighbours. The vast majority of which hate me. You happy?”

“Maybe they find you too loud,” Raphael sniped tiredly, sitting down heavily on the couch and pinching the bridge of his nose, screwing his eyes shut.

“How come you’re asleep at this time anyway? That’s not like you.”

“I was out all night,” Raphael said.

“Out where?”

Raphael’s eyes shot open and he looked instantly shifty. “None of your business,” he snapped.

“No, you’re right,” Simon shrugged, wary of getting back on Raphael’s bad side when he had tried so hard just to make it to the extremely-put-upon side of him again. “But I’ll tell you what _is_ my business. Magnus’ cats. So, how are the cats?”

“I don’t know,” Raphael grumbled, seeming relieved that Simon had left it alone. “Alive.”

“Oh, thank goodness, they live and breathe.” Simon rolled his eyes. “Though I guess that means they are doing better than the pair of us.”

Raphael snorted a laugh, before seeming to realise himself and schooling his face back to its resting bitch. Simon still counted it as a victory and silently celebrated as he went about getting the cats their dinner.

He stepped out onto Magnus’ balcony, the cats appearing from every direction for their food. He poured the food into their bowls and then stood in the sun of the late afternoon, feeling the warmth on his face. He knew how hard it must be for Raphael, who he knew longed to walk in the sun, but Simon knew that if he told Raphael the truth – that he suspected that it was Jace’s angelic blood that had given Simon his Daylighter abilities – he knew that that would put both Jace and Clary in terrible danger. He just couldn’t risk it. Raphael would be the kind to want a cure for his whole clan, not just himself, and if more vampires found out…no. It just couldn’t happen.

Simon would take the secret with him to the grave. And if the whole ploy of the Seelie Queen of taking Maia to make a deal with him was to get him to visit her and reveal how he became a Daylighter, he wouldn’t tell her either, even if it meant being trapped in the Seelie Realm.

Clary was his best friend in the world and Jace had saved his life by giving him his blood. He could never betray them like that. 

He made a hasty retreat inside, because Raphael was in the darkened apartment with blacked-out windows, knowing that Simon was spending time out in the sun.

Simon knocked on the balcony door to warn Raphael that he was opening it, and then slipped back into the apartment.

***

The third day that Simon visited to check on Magnus’ apartment and cats, Raphael walked out of the kitchen with two glasses of blood just before Simon was about to leave.

“Do you want one before you go?”

Simon was taken aback. He and Raphael had a tentative friendship at best, now, despite Magnus’ best efforts, because they only ever really hung out now if Magnus invited them somewhere at the same time. It had been a long time since Raphael had offered him a drink.

“Thanks,” Simon could not help smiling, pleased, taking the offered glass from Raphael.

Almost as if he had a sixth sense for when his Downworlder children were getting along, there was a blaze of blue light and a letter dropped neatly on Magnus’ coffee table. Raphael glanced up at him, quirking an eyebrow, before sitting on the couch and reaching for the new letter. His eyebrow arched even higher, before turning the letter so that Simon could see it was addressed to the both of them in Magnus’ elegant scrawl.

“Well open it then!” Simon waved at him impatiently, sitting down on the opposite couch. “Magnus put you in charge of the mail, not me.”

Raphael opened it, his eyes quickly scanning the words before snorting and passing it across the table to Simon.

 

_Raphael and Simon,_

_Thank you once again for taking care of things in our absence, darlings. It is highly appreciated. I do hope that you are working together and being kind to each other. Life is too short for quarrels amongst family, kids. Even for lives as long as ours._

_Magnus_

 

“So that’s his game,” Simon said, and he had kind of figured it, really. “He wanted us to have some quality bonding time.”

“Seems like,” Raphael said, “I had wondered if it was punishment for something, but this makes perfect sense.”

“Punishment?!” Simon gasped, affronted. “How very dare you.”

Raphael smirked.

“And punishment for what exactly?” Simon crossed his arms. “What would Magnus have to punish you for?”

Raphael shifted in his seat.

“Nothing really. Yet.” Raphael said, cryptic in that annoying way of his. “But I did see him doodling the Shadowhunter Deflect Rune on one of his scriptures last week like some lovesick teenager.”

Simon frowned, thinking through the runes Clary had told him about before. The ones on her skin that he had traced and learned in the short time that they had been together.

“Deflect?” Simon said in realisation, “Isn’t that the big one on Alec’s neck?”

Raphael’s smirk widened.

“Oh. So…” Simon said, “Magnus has a thing for Alec’s neck rune.”

“Well he set the paper alight pretty quickly when he saw I’d seen,” Raphael said.

“And you thought Magnus might punish you for that?” Simon asked, confused.

Raphael looked a little sheepish. “I may have laughed and teased him a little. I haven’t seen him this smitten since the day I met him.”

“Yes, it’s disgusting isn’t it? How healthy and devoted their relationship is?” Simon nodded, “It makes the rest of us feel totally inadequate with our significant others.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Raphael said, clipped.

Simon halted. He had done it again, let his mouth run before his brain processed. Clary had told him the majority of what had gone on between Raphael and Izzy.

“Sorry, man,” Simon said, feeling guilty, “My mind has gotten a bit boggled by learning of Magnus’ rune kink. Can’t blame him, though, I mean, the runes are kind of hot, right? They really do put them everywhere.”

Raphael frowned. “Again, I wouldn’t know. Isabelle and I weren’t…" He stalled, looking shocked at himself for saying so much, but he was headstrong, and so finished his sentence as though unaffected. "Intimate...in that way”

Simon blinked, surprised.

“I’m,” Raphael paused, looked frustrated for a second, before overcoming it and saying, “I'm not like that.”

“Oh,” Simon said. “Asexual?”

Raphael looked wary for a moment before nodding.

“Cool.” Simon nodded back, picking up his glass and sitting back.

Raphael stared at him incredulously. “That’s it?”

Simon shrugged. “Well, yeah?”

Raphael shook his head, lips tilting up into a smile so tiny that Simon almost missed it.

Simon grinned. They drank their blood in comfortable silence for a while.

“You know you could have just said no,” Simon said, “When Magnus asked you to take care of things. He wouldn’t have minded.”

Raphael shook his head. “I don’t see it as punishment, despite what I said. Magnus has done so much for me, I am always happy to return the favour whenever he asks for my help, and that isn’t often. Even if this all was just a ploy to get us to talk to each other.” He paused before pointing out, “You could have said no too.”

“Magnus has done a lot for me too. And to be honest, it’s nice to know Magnus cares about me. I have Maia, Clary and Luke, sure, and my Mom and Becca, but it’s nice to have another Downworlder that’s not Maia and Luke that wants me around. I like having Magnus’ trust. And it’s helping me to take my mind off…well, other stuff.”

Raphael didn’t pry. He just raised his glass in acknowledgment, like he had his own ‘other stuff’ going on too. It was Raphael, of course, so he most likely did.

“I think that is what Magnus is doing too,” Raphael said. “I think he is worried for his position as High Warlock after siding with the Seelie Queen over the Valentine business. I think that is one of the reasons why he has taken Alec away for the week, to take his mind off everything. It was another reason why I wanted to help him out.”

Simon nodded, downing the rest of his glass, and planting it down on the table. “I bet they are having a lovely time, but to be honest with you, now whenever I think about Magnus and Alec on holiday I’m not going to be able to get away from the mental image of Magnus and his thing for Alec’s neck rune. So thanks for that one. Next time I see Alec I won’t be able to stop looking at it. And at Magnus looking at it.”

“You won’t be able to stop looking at Alec’s _what_?”

Simon nearly leapt out of his skin, hurling himself around on the couch.

“For the love of…how the hell did you get in here?”

Jace managed to look awkward and narrow his eyes with condescension at the exact same time; a remarkable feat.

“I still have a key,” Jace said. “From when I lived with Magnus.”

Simon sighed audibly. “Has he asked you to check in on the cats too? Jace, it’s been three days! If the cats were left to you they’d be starving by now.”

“Typical Shadowhunter,” Raphael muttered.

Jace pointed at him, mock-offended, “That’s racist.”

Raphael rolled his eyes.

“I’m not here to check on the apartment,” Jace said. “But Alec did leave a book here that I need.”

“Oh yeah?” Simon leapt up, “I can help you find it.”

It was a surprise that all Jace did was shrug tiredly. “Sure, ok.”

It took them fifteen minutes – Magnus had a lot of books – before they found it.

“A book about dreams?” Simon asked in interest before Jace could hide it from him, and it did look like Jace was about to whip it from his sight.

“Research.”

“For what?”

Simon looked at Jace closely. He looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes. He still looked unfairly handsome, because of course he did, it was Jace, but he didn’t look his usual radiant self. And Simon could not believe he had just thought of Jace as radiant. It had been a weird day for thinking of Shadowhunters as radiant…and about their neck runes.

“About dreams,” Jace rolled his eyes with force, as though Simon was a great irritation, but it held barely any power. He then made a blatant attempt to turn the conversation away from himself. “Maybe you need to have a read, if you have been having dreams about Alec’s runes.”

Simon knew what Jace was doing - trying to deflect - but he decided that he didn’t want to argue and took the bait.

“If you had heard the whole conversation,” he huffed defensively, “You would have heard that Raphael caught Magnus doodling Alec’s Deflect Rune the other day. He clearly has a thing for it.”

“Of course he does,” Jace said, unsurprised and unaffected, as though it were obvious. “Haven’t you ever seen them sit on a couch together? The second Magnus’ arm goes around Alec’s shoulders he is tracing it with his fingers. And so he should. I didn’t pick any plain old person as my _parabatai_ . Alec’s special. And neck runes are hot. I always wanted one because it looked good on him, but he would have called me a copycat and been smug for the rest of our lives so I didn’t bother.”

Simon blinked, “I am finding out so much about people today.”

“Yeah, well,” Jace said, tucking the book into his chest like a shield even as his tone stayed cocky. “Don’t get used to it. That was your quota.”

“Hey,” Simon held up his hands, “That’s a-ok with me, man.  To be honest, I’m even just surprised we’re being civil.”

“You make it hard work, but I’m trying for Clary’s sake.”

“You know that didn’t sound the least bit convincing.”

“I’m having an off-day.”

“Uh-huh,” Simon agreed, a little concerned because Jace wasn’t being very Jace-like and it was weird.

Jace jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I’ve gotta get going.”

“Sure,” Simon said, sticking his hands in his pockets as Jace turned to leave. “Good luck with those dreams, or whatever research it is you’re doing.”

His enhanced hearing meant that he picked up the ‘Thanks’ Jace uttered before he was gone.

“Well, that was weird,” Simon said to Raphael when he returned to the couches and sat back down again. “This is why we shouldn’t have visitors over.”

“‘We’ are not a ‘we’,” Raphael reminded him, because he was rude like that, “And this is not our house.”

“Hah! You just said ‘our’! So ‘we’ are a ‘we’!”

Raphael rubbed at his temple. “You know you are free to leave at any time.”

Simon shifted awkwardly, worrying he had pushed Raphael’s patience too far once again.

“I was going to hang out for another hour or so before going to meet Maia from her shift at the Hunter’s Moon. Unless you don’t want me to stay…”

Raphael had at some point during Jace’s visit been into the kitchen to fetch a fancy decanter full of blood – he was definitely an adopted son of Magnus’ – and he reached out to pick it up and top up Simon’s empty glass.

“I think I can put up with you for another hour,” Raphael said, not meeting his eyes. Which meant he also didn’t see Simon’s smile.

***

“Darlings!” Magnus declared three days later as he swept through the portal into his apartment, Alec not far behind, because Magnus had hold of his hand. “The apartment is in one piece! I am so proud of you.”

“It’s not like it is a hard task…” Raphael grumbled even as Magnus pulled him in to plant a kiss on his cheekbone.

Simon watched on, amused, because Magnus was still grasping Alec’s hand, so Alec had been dragged into Magnus and Raphael’s touching father-son moment whether he liked it or not.

 “Well I didn’t know whether we would be returning to war or peace, so frankly I am thrilled,” Magnus said.

Alec had barely said hello to Raphael before Magnus was pulling him in Simon’s direction.

“Simon!” Magnus beamed, kissing Simon on the cheek too, and Simon was surprised. It was the first time Magnus had done so. The Warlock was clearly giddy, possibly tipsy, so Simon supposed that that was why. But then Magnus said, “How have things been? How are the cats?”

Simon whooped in triumph. “You see?” Simon spoke to Raphael from around Magnus’ broad shoulders. “I told you that they were the most important!”

“Of course they are important,” Magnus scoffed.

“They are doing fine, Magnus. All is good.”

“Hi,” Alec greeted Simon, with a smile that may or may not have been a little tipsy too, which was surprising. He didn’t try to kiss him on the cheek though, which wasn’t at all surprising. Alec was only affectionate with his family and Magnus. Simon may have been as good as an adopted Downworlder of Magnus’, but he and Alec weren’t family. Not yet. His gaze drifted to the rune on Alec’s neck before darting away again. _No, don’t think about that. Oh my god…is that a hickey?_

Simon was gratefully snapped from his thoughts by Magnus asking Raphael if all had been well.

“All good here,” Raphael replied, all cryptic again.

Simon wasn’t the only one who noticed. Magnus frowned. The Warlock let go of Alec's hand.

“Raphael, may I speak to you privately?” Magnus asked, already ushering Raphael away.

Simon looked up at Alec with a raised eyebrow. Alec just shrugged.

“Jace came by, by the way,” Simon said casually, “To pick up a book he said you left here. I thought you should know in case you wondered where it had gone.”

Alec frowned. “I didn’t leave a book here.” Immediately more sober and serious, Alec nodded at him, “Thank you for telling me. At least someone is honest with me.” He spun on his heel and stalked towards Magnus’ room, “I have to go contact the Institute.”

“Ok, bye,” Simon said, feeling bad for bringing Alec back down to earth with a thump so soon after his return from his holiday.

Alec was probably worried about Jace. Alec always seemed to be worried about Jace, Izzy, Max, Maryse or Magnus; usually Jace, though, because Jace had a penchant for getting into crazy situations.

And that made him think about the Seelie Queen, and Simon realised he definitely had a penchant for trouble too. He sighed, and tried to focus on something else.

His vampire-ears picked up a sliver of Magnus and Raphael’s conversation.

“I will tell you when I stop by next week,” Raphael said. When Magnus started to protest, Raphael said, “It can wait until after you have spoken to the Warlocks about their decision of the High Warlock position. Have you mentioned it to Alec yet?”

“No. I didn’t want to spoil our holiday by moping.”

Simon quickly stopped eavesdropping. Left alone in the lounge, he decided that it was maybe time to leave.

He quickly said goodbye to Magnus and Raphael and got an extra bright smile and thanks from Magnus for his trouble, but Simon now wondered how much of Magnus' giddy cheer was to mask his worry over his position as High Warlock. 

He also said goodbye to the cats before he left.

Because they were cute.

And they were definitely more important to Magnus than the mail, and he was feeling very smug about it.

***

Barely two weeks later, Simon had the Mark of Cain on his forehead. Raphael was afraid of him again and not speaking to him. Magnus was no longer High Warlock of Brooklyn and busy helping Alec with work. Jace was still being weird and Clary was preoccupied with him. And Simon had been kicked out of the boathouse because Maia had been outnumbered by literally everyone – even Luke, though Simon understood Luke’s reasons why.

He had gone from house-sitting Magnus’ beautiful apartment to sleeping in the back of his van. He wanted to mope and miss that week of apartment-sitting and the cats and Raphael, but he didn’t let himself. He had to stop moping over the moment of peace of apartment-sitting. He had to get apartment-hunting. And hope that things would work themselves out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed it. 
> 
> I included a little headcanon of mine about how much Magnus loves Alec's neck rune. Because SERIOUSLY. The Deflect Rune. 
> 
> Also, there was some bonus!Jace in there, because I have realised that I seem unable to write these little stories without at least a Jace cameo in them. I'm not sure why. That's a lie. I love Jace.
> 
> What are you guys thinking about Season 3 so far? Hasn't the Malec content been fantastic? I think the next episode might be an angsty one though. Our boys!!!! I am also LIVING for how cute that Magnus and Raphael scene was in S3E1. I need more of the father-son stuff it makes me happy.
> 
> Also isn't everyone looking even more spot-on this season than usual? Like Magnus' wardrobe, and Alec's face, and Simon's style, and Maia's style and laying down truths, and Izzy and Clary being the epitome of perfection. And Jace being a cutie. And Luke in general. And how great is Maryse now? And I love Kyle (*ahem*) already. (I just love them all 'kay?) What is their secret? What are they drinking? Can I have some of it?

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is unbeta'd. Any glaring errors, just let me know!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Comments and Kudos are fuel for the soul, and are much appreciated. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Some potential future headcanon chapters include:
> 
> \- Magnus has a party and invites the Shadowhunter gang but it’s not one of his usual parties. It is just a small gathering of Magnus, Alec, Raphael, Simon, Jace, Izzy, Clary, Luke and a couple of Magnus’ other Downworlder children and the Shadowhunters realise that they are definitely counted by Magnus as a part of his fam.  
> \- Simon has another gig (how amazing was his song in the Hunter's Moon?!) and Raphael ‘the band manager’ goes, and Simon’s Downworlder parents Magnus and Alec go, and so does Clary, obviously. And Jace because Clary is there, and also because he kind of likes Simon now. And also Izzy because she kind of fancies Simon now he’s a badass vamp.  
> \- Raphael giving Alec the 'shovel talk' like Jace did to Magnus (prompted by Jenifer_Cullen).  
> \- Alec defending his relationship and Magnus (prompted by Jenifer_Cullen).  
> \- Further exploration of the Magnus and Luke dynamic (prompted by brandnewworldstosee).  
> \- A continuation of the events of Chapter 5, where Magnus' Shadowhunter fam DO lose a bet to Magnus and get dressed up by him. (And Alec does again, because seriously, Alec in Magnus' wardrobe guys). (prompted by EL)  
> \- Magnus pulling parental authority over Raphael at some point, and prohibits or scolds him for getting into danger, or going against his wishes. (prompted by AGJ_Haze).


End file.
